PROCEEDINGS 


OF  THE 


t-vEE   CONYEBTION, 


HELD  AT 


Rutland,  ^X.,  July  25tli,  26tli,  and  27tli,  1858. 


f  opinion  may  be  safely  tolerated,  where  Reason  is  left  free  to  combat  it." 

Jefferson. 

nth  and  Falsehood  grapple ;  who  ever  knew  Truth  put  to  the  worse  in  a  free 
icounter  ?  "  Milton, 

)  begins  by  loving  Christianity  better  than  Truth,  will  end  by  loving  himself 
either."  Coleridge. 


BOSTON: 
J.    B.    YERRINTON    AND    SON, 

21   CORNHILL. 
1858. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1858, 

By  J.  M.  W.  YERRINTON, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


LITHOTTPED  BY  COWLES   AND   COMPANY. 
17  WASHINGTON    ST.,    BOSTON. 

Press  of  Bazin  and  Chandler. 


PREFACE. 


The  following  pages  contain  a  record  of  the  proceedings  of  a^ 
Convention  held  at  Rutland,  Vt.,  June  25th,  26th,  and  27th,  1858, 
and  are  published  under  the  supervision  of  a  Committee  to  whom 
that  duty  was  entrusted  by  the  Convention. 

The  report  embraces  the  discussions  on  all  the  questions  of  re- 
form there  introduced,  nearly  in  full.  In  some  cases,  the  speeches 
have  been  condensed,  but  never,  it  is  believed,  to  the  detriment  of 
the  arguments  brought  forward,  certainly  never  with  the  intention 
to  qualify  the  utterances  of  any  speaker,  however  radical.  Some 
debates  upon  points  of  order,  or  personal  in  their  character,  have 
been  omitted.  It  is  proper  to  say,  also,  that,  except  in  very  few 
cases,  the  speakers  have  had  no  opportunity  to  revise  their  re- 
marks. 

In  theory,  the  principle  of  "freedom  of  speech"  meets  with 
universal  acceptance  in  this  country ;  but,  practically,  it  is  rejected 
as  dangerous  or  heretical,  for  no  sooner  is  an  honest  effort  made 
to  afford  every  man  and  woman  an  opportunity  to  express  their 
whole  thought  on  any  of  the  great  questions  which  agitate  soci- 
ety, than  startled  conservatism  and  frightened  timidity  cry  out 
against  it,  and,  branding  it  with  some  odious  name,  seek  to  crush 
it  in  its  inception,  or,  failing  in  this,  to  belie  and  caricature  its  re- 
sults. Thus  it  has  been  with  the  Convention  whose  proceedings 
are  herein  recorded.  The  country  has  been  flooded  with  idle  tales 
in  regard  to  it,  in  which  its  objects  have  been  misrepresented,  and 
the  character  of  those  who  took  part  in  it  grossly  and  maliciously 
assailed.     These  pages  will  tell  the  story  of  what  it  really  was. 


ui 


PREFACE. 

1  or  woman  is  responsible  for  any  word  here  nttered  that 
A  spoken  by  himself  or  herself.     "  It  is  truth,"  says  Paley, 
"  that  results  from  discussion  and  from  controversy."     Whatever 
of  truth  there  is  in  these  pages  will  live  ;  for  the  rest,  let  it  die ! 

"  Get  but  the  Truth  once  uttered,  and  't  is  like 
A  star  new-born,  that  drops  into  its  place. 
And  which,  once  circling  in  its  placid  round, 
Not  all  the  tumult  of  the  earth  can  shake." 

JOHN  LANDON,  1  p  ;/•;;• 

JAMES  M.  W.  YERRINTON,  I  ^''^^''^^'''9 
CHARLES  F.  HOVEY,     J  ^^^"^^«^- 


PREE     CONVENTION. 


TO    THE    FRIENDS    OP    HUMAN    PROGHESS. 


The  disenthralment  of  humanity  from  all  such  influences  as  fetter  its  natural  and  vital 
growth,  is  too  evidently  the  condition  of  all  Progress,  and,  therefore,  the  duty  of  Phi- 
lanthropy, to  need  enforcement  in  this  Call.  The  history  of  the  past  is  beautiful  only  at 
the  points  where  it  records  the  encroachments  of  human  freedom  on  the  natural  limita- 
tions or  artificial  tyrannies  imposed  upon  thought  and  action.  And  the  future  is  hopeful 
only  in  such  proportion  as  it  points  towards  a  wise  and  well-grounded  emancipation  of 
the  race  from  the  spiritual  despotisms  that,  on  the  one  hand,  now  control  thought,  and  the 
civil  and  social  disabilities  that,  on  the  other,  restrain  action,  into  that  free  and  pure  life 
which  both  are  yet  destined  to  attain.  Every  Philanthropist,  therefore,  welcomes  the 
increasingly  manifest  tendencies  of  the  present  age,  to  challenge  the  institutions  that 
claim  control  over  humanity,  and  to  insist  that  those  claims  shall  be  appealed  to  the  tri- 
bunal of  demonstrable  facts  and  rigid  inductions,  rather  than  to  "  the  traditions  of  the 
elders." 

The  signers  of  this  call  desire  to  aid  in  carrjdng  up  this  appeal.  They  believe  the» 
time  has  come  when  the  friends  of  Free  Thought  in  Vermont  will  find  it  both  pleasant  1 
and  profitable  to  take  counsel  together,  and  have  a  mutual  interchange  of  sentiment  on  I 
the  great  topics  of  Reform.  That  there  would  be  entire  harmony  of  doctrine  and  symbol  \ 
among  us  is  not  to  be  expected,  but  it  is  believed  that  in  purpose,  we  should  "see  eye  l 
to  eye,"  and  it  is  purposes,  not  creeds,  that  vitalize  and  harmonize  effort.  I 

With  these  convictions,  we,  whose  names  are  appended  to  this  call,  do  most  cordially 
and  earnestly  invite  all  Philanthropists  and  Reformers  in  and  out  of  the  State,  to  meet 
in  FREE  CONVENTION,  at  Rutland,  Vermont,  on  the  25th,  26th,  and  27th  of  June 
next,  to  discuss  the  various  topics  of  Reform  that  are  now  engaging  the  attention  and 
effort  of  Progressive  minds. 

By  a  reference  to  the  names  appended  to  this  call,  it  will  be  evident  that  it  is  not  the 
project  of  any  special  branch  or  division  of  Reformers  —  having  some  Shibboleth  of  its 
own  to  be  mouthed  with  provincial  accent  —  but  the  unanimous  movement  of  those  who 
hail  from  every  section  of  the  great  Army  of  Reform,  and  who  have  no  watchword  but 
Humanity.  The  catholicity  of  spirit  and  purpose  which  will  characterize  the  proposed 
meeting  is  thus  sufficiently  guarantied,  and  the  assurance  well-grounded  that  every 
theme  will  be  frankly  and  fairly  treated  at  the  hands  of  the  Convention,  and  thus  the  in- 
terests of  the  largest  philanthropy  secured. 

Come,  then,  friends  of  Free  Thought.  Come  one,  come  all.  Men  of  all  religious 
creeds,  and  men  of  no  creed,  shall  find  equal  welcome.  And  woman  too,  let  her  come; 
both  to  adorn  by  her  presence,  and  strengthen  by  her  thought,  and  give  depth  and  ear- 
nestness to  the  action  of  this  gathering  in  behalf  of  Humanity.  Let  her  vindicate,  by 
her  own  eloquence  and  zeal,  the  social  position  she  is  so  nobly  and  rapidly  winning  for  , 
herself.  The  only  common  ground  on  which  we  seek  to  meet  is,  that  of  fearless  discus- ; 
sion,  and  the  only  pledge  we  make  is  to  bring  a  rational  investigation  to  the  solution  of/ 

5 


6 

every  problem  involving  the  social  or  religious  duty  and  destiny  of  the  race.    In  this 
faith,  we  hail  all  as  brethren  and  co-laborers. 

Further  notice  of  the  Convention,  with  a  programme  of  its  exercises,  so  far  as  can  be 
previously  arranged,  will  be  published  in  the  newspapers. 

[Signed  by  John  Landon,  Newman  Weeks,  Albert  Landon,  W.  W.  Russell, 
of  Rutland,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  others,  belonging  to  various  towns  in  Vermont.] 


The  following  circular  was  sent  with  the  Call  to  a  number  of  persons  who,  it  was  sup- 
posed, would  be  friendly  to  the  object  contemplated,  and,  with  the  call,  embraces  all  the 
official  correspondence  on  the  subject : — 

Progressive  Friend : 

We  send  you  this  circular,  which,  if  you  approve,  please  sign  and  return  at  an  early 
day.  Our  object  is  to  call  a  Convention,  over  the  names  of  some  thirty  or  forty  earnest, 
hopeful  friends  of  Progressive  Man,  and  we  take  this  method  to  get  an  expression  of  thy 
mind. 

The  call  will  be  issued  by  the  10th  of  May  to  the  friends  in  the  New  England  and 
the  adjoining  States. 


Respectfully, 
Dhrect  to 


Rutland,  Vt.,  April  24,  1858. 


JOHN  LANDON,        \  ^^^  y 
NEWMAN  WEEKS,  ]  ^iutland,  Yt. 
S.  G.  PERKINS,  Castleton. 
THOS.  E.  WAKEFIELD,  Fairhaven. 
S.  B.  NICHOLS,  Burlington. 


PEOCEEDINGS. 


In  pursuance  of  the  preceding  Call,  a  Free  Convention  was  held  in 
the  town  of  Rutland,  Vermont,  on  Friday,  Saturday,  and  Sunday,  June  25th, 
26th,  and  27th,  1858,  in  a  large  tent,  which  had  been  provided  for  the  pur- 
pose. The  meeting  was  called  to  order  at  ten  o'clock  on  Friday  morning, 
by  John  Land  on,  Esq.,  who  stated  that  a  preliminary  meeting  had  been 
held  on  the  4th  of  June,  to  make  arrangements  for  the  Convention,  and 
called  for  the  reading  of  the  minutes  of  said  meeting,  which  were  read  by 
the  Secretary,  Mr.  J.  R.  Forest,  and  accepted  by  the  Convention. 

The  list  of  officers  for  the  Convention,  recommended  by  the  Committee 
of  Arrangements,  was  adopted,  as  follows :  — 

PKESIDENT. 

JASON  F.  WALKER,  Glen's  FaUs,  New  York. 

VICE  PBESIDENTS. 


Dr.  H.  KooN,  North  Bennington,  Vt. 
Thos.  Middleton,  Woodstock,  Vt. 
Ernestine  L.  Rose,  New  York. 
Joseph  Adams,  Fairhaven,  Vt. 
M.  L.  SwEETSEK,  Middlebury,  Vt. 
G.  F.    Rellt,  Danby,  Vt. 
Miss  A.  W.  Sprague,  Plymouth,  Vt. 
R.  B.  Fay,  Williston,  Vt. 
Wm.  Weston,  Burlington,  Vt. 


Rev.  Gibson  Smith,  Shaftsbury,  Vt. 
H.  C.  Wright,  Boston,  Mass. 
Sherman  Thomas,  Manchester,  Vt. 
A.  KiLBURN,  Fairhaven,  Vt. 
r.  p.  Clarke,  Ira,  Vt. 
E.  B.  HoLDEN,  North  Clarendon,  Vt. 
Sarah  A.  Horton,  Sudbury,  Vt. 
G.  F.  Hendee,  Pittsford,  Vt. 
L.  Amadon,  Bellows  Falls,  Vt. 


SEOKETAKIES. 

Wm.  H.  Root,   Burlington,  Vt.  N.  Weeks,  Rutland,  Vt. 

J.  R.  Forest,  Winooski  Falls,  Vt.  A.  B.  Armstrong,  Dorset,  Vt. 

L.  Clark,  Jr.,  Addison,  Vt. 


Albert  Landon, 

J.  R.  Forest, 


BUSINESS  COMMITTEE. 
Jason  F.  Walker, 


N.  Weeks, 
H.  P.  Cutting. 


The  President,  on  taking  the  chair,  spoke  as  follows :  — 
This  is  a  Free  Convention.  It  extends  the  largest  liberty  to  the  expres- 
sion of  individual  thought.  It  proposes  to  afford  an  opportunity  for  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  various  topics  of  Reform  which  engage  the  attention  of 
Philanthropists.  It  proposes  that  that  discussion  shall  be  free,  fair,  fearless. 
We  come  together  pledged  to  no  symbol  of  doctrine.  We  have  no  Shibbo- 
leth to  be  mouthed  with  a  certain  provincial  accent,  as  the  test  of  fellowship. 
We  shall  discover  very  soon,  if  we  are  not  altogether  aware  of  it,  that  there 
is  a  great  variety  of  sentiment  among  us.  There  will  be  many  things  in 
which  we  shall  disagree ;  few  perhaps  in  which  we  shall  not.  No  symbol, 
political,  social,  or  theological,  could  probably  unite  us.     Let  us  see  to  it 

7 


8  THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

that  no  symbol  separates  us,  and  then  it  will  be  small  matter  that  we  dis- 
agree in  our  forms  of  thought,  or  modes  of  action. 

But  I  hope  there  is  one  thing  in  which  we  are  united ;  namely,  an  earnest 
desire  for  the  redemption  of  our  common  humanity  from  ignorance  and  all 
its  attendant  evils.  This  will  give  us  all  the  platform  of  faith  we  need, 
here,  and  everywhere.  We  come  here,  I  trust,  under  a  pressing  conviction 
that  humanity  is  in  trouble,  and  needs  redeeming.  The  work  of  redemption 
is  a  difficult  and  complicated  one,  and  requires  unprejudiced  minds  and  ear- 
nest souls  on  the  part  of  all  who  would  be  agents  in  it.  Party  spirit  and 
sectarian  zeal  will  never  help  us  much.  The  world  has  applied  these  agen- 
cies long  enough  and  uselessly  enough,  in  the  work.  It  is  quite  time  to  seek 
to  compass  the  work  with  another  spirit.  We  must,  first  of  all,  not  come  to 
the  work  prejudged.  We  shall  have  various  plans  presented  for  our  con- 
sideration, proposing  modes  of  action  in  specific  departments  of  the  great 
work;  and  some  of  these  plans  will  even  propose  to  cover  the  whole 
ground.  We  are  expected  to  canvass  these  plans,  and  express  our  opin- 
ions of  their  adaptation  to  the  exigencies  of  the  case.  We  must,  therefore, 
first  seek  to  attain  a  clear  perception  of  the  evils  to  be  remedied,  both  in 
their  magnitude  and  relations.  And  then  we  must  require  of  all  plans  of 
reform,  that  they  exhibit  a  rational  and  organic  adaptation  to  the  evils  they 
propose  to  remedy.  We  must  be  deep  thinkers,  therefore,  as  well  as  free 
thinkers.  , 

This  is  a  free  platform.  Many  things  will  be  said  upon  it.  Some  of  themi 
we  shall  like,  some  we  shall  not.  But  if  we  came  here  to  enjoy  the  oppor- 
tunity of  a  free  platform,  let  us  accord  the  same  privilege  to  our  fellow. 
You  are  not  yet  free,  if  you  propose  to  deny  me  freedom  in  all  things 
wherein  you  have  the  spirit  of  liberty.  No  man  is  responsible  here  for  the 
opinions  or  remarks  of  another.  Nor  is  the  Convention  to  be  judged  by 
individual  expressions  of  sentiment.  And  here  let  me  say  that  the  Busi- 
ness Committee  will  report  a  series  of  resolutions,  embracing  the  various 
topics  of  reform,  designed  as  a  basis  for  the  discussions  of  the  Convention. 
These  resolutions  are  not  to  be  regarded  as  expressing  the  sentiments  of  the 
Convention,  nor  even  of  those  who  may  have  written  them.  They  were 
simply  constructed  with  a  view  to  present  the  several  subjects  they  refer  to, 
in  a  convenient  form  for  the  largest  liberty  of  discussion.  We  object  to 
being  judged  as  a  Convention  by  these  resolutions,  at  present.  All  we 
claim  or  allow  for  this  Convention  now  is,  that  it  is  a  Free  Convention.  If, 
later  in  its  progress,  the  Convention  passes  or  rejects  these  resolutions,  then 
such  passage  or  rejection  may  afford  good  grounds  of  inference  concerning 
the  attitude  of  the  Convention  on  these  topics.  But  it  is  not  the  purpose 
of  the  Business  Committee,  nor,  I  apprehend,  of  this  Convention,  to  stereo- 
type thought,  but  to  agitate  it.  As  a  Convention,  we  will  be  judged  when 
we  adjourn  on  all  subjects  on  which  we  take  action  as  a  Convention ;  as  in- 
dividuals, we  wish  to  be  judged  by  what  we  say  ourselves.  Further  than 
this  we  demur. 

This  is  a  Convention  for  Free  Speech.  We  can  scarcely  secure  this  for 
all,  unless  each  speaks  directly,  and  to  the  point,  and  wastes  no  time  in  per- 
sonal altercation  and  repartee. 

Among  persons  of  so  great  diversity  of  sentiment  as  may  be  expected 
to  meet  under  a  call  for  a  Free  Convention,  there  will  also  be  great  diversity 
of  disposition  and  temperament.  We  shall  need  a  large  spirit  of  charity 
and  forbearance.  They  who  would  be  reformers  of  their  fellows  should 
always  be  charitable.     He  who  has  not  discovered  this  to  be  the  cardinal 


A 


PV^    \A    ^OCi 


PROCEEDINGS.  S> 

spirit  of  reform  has  had  as  yet  too  small  experience  in  reforming  himseli 
to  qualify  him  to  be  a  Redeemer  for  his  fellow.  Without  a  charitable  spirit, 
we  shall  soon  find  ourselves  in  trouble  here,  and,  for  that  matter,  every 
where  else.  With  it,  despite  the  fears  of  our  friends  and  the  hopes  of  our 
enemies,  we  shall  get  on  harmoniously  amid  the  varied  elements  of  this 
Free  Convention,  and  profitably. 

One  word  more.  Although  this  is  a  Free  Convention,  we  cannot  get 
along  without  order.     Freedom  is  not  license.     Let  us  evince  that  Ave  have  : 

a  better  apprehension  of  the  word.     It  is  simply  the  largest  liberty  consist- 
ent at  any  given  time  and  under  any  given  circumstances,  with  the  equal         \ 
liberty  of  every  one  else  under  the  same  circumstances.     Let  us  bear  this  in  ^ 

mind,  and  we  shall  avoid  much  trouble  and  confusion. 

Finally,  let  us  begin,  prosecute,  and  end  the  work  of  this  Free  Convention 
as  free  men  and  women,  remembering  our  responsibilities  as  well  as  our. 
privileges,  speaking  freely  whatsoever  seems  to  us  to  be  true,  thus  seeking  to 
establish  and  enlarge  the  kingdom  of  Truth  in  our  own  souls  and  the  souls 
of  our  fellows  ;  for  it  is  the  kingdom  of  God  in  us. 

Mr.  Albert  Landon,  Chairman  of  the  Business  Committee,  submitted 
the  following  series  of  Resolutions. 

AUTHORITY  VS.    CONVICTION". 

Resolved,  That  the  authority  of  each  individual  soul  is  absolute  and  final,  in  deciding  ; 

questions  as  to  what  is  true  or  false  in  principle,  and  right  or  wrong  in  practice  ;  there-  / 

fx)re,  the  individual,  the  Church,  or  the  State,  that  attempts  to  control  the  opinions  or  the  '-^ 

practices  of  any  man  or  woman,  by  an  authority  or  power  outside  of  his  or  her  own  soul,  / 

is  guilty  of  a  flagrant  wrong.  / 

SLAVERY. 

Hesolved,  That  Slavery  is  a  wrong  which  no  power  in  the  universe  can  make  right ; 
therefore,  any  law,  constitution,  court,  or  government,  any  church,  priesthood,  creed,  or 
Bible,  or  any  Christ,  or  any  God,  that,  by  silence  or  otherwise,  authorizes  man  to  enslave 
man,  merits  the  scorn  and  contempt  of  mankind. 

SPIRITUALISM. 

1.  Resolved,  That  the  phenomena  of  what  is  denominated  Modern  Spiritualism,  have 
abundantly  demonstrated  the  fact  that  an  intelligent  intercourse  between  embodied  and 
disembodied  human  spirits  is  both  possible  and  actual. 

2.  Resolved,  That  the  conviction  of  the  possibility  and  actuality  of  spirit-intercourse 
is  opposed  to  all  despotism,  impurity,  and  sensualism,  and  conduces  to  the  inauguration 
of  the  onlv  authority  consistent  with  the  human  soul,  or  favorable  to  sound  morality. 

3.  Resolved,  That  the  present  Spiritual  movement  has  done  much  to  arrest  the  tide  of 
jxtpular  skepticism,  and  the  material  and  sensuous  tendencies  of  the  Age,  by  giving  the 
natural  evidences  of  our  immortality  a  clearer  expression  and  a  more  demonstrative 
form. 

WAR,   AND   DEATH   PENALTY. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  always  wrong  and  inexpedient  for  man  to  take  the  life  of  man ; 
therefore,  capital  punishment,  war,  and  all  preparations  for  war,  are  wrong,  and  incon- 
sistent with  the  safety  and  best  interests  of  individuals  and  of  society. 

MARRIAGE. 

Resolved,  That  the  only  true  and  natural  marriage  is  an  exclusive  conjugal  love  be- 
tween one  man  and  one  woman,  and  the  only  true  home  is  the  isolated  home,  based 
upon  this  exclusive  love. 

MATERNITY,    AND   WOMAN's   RIGHTS   IN   REGARD   TO   IT. 

Resolved,  That  the  most  sacred  and  important  right  of  woman,  is  her  right  to  decide  y-\ 

for  herself  how  often  and  under  what  circumstances  she  shall  assume  the  responsibilities        //^ 
and  be  subject  to  the  cares  and  sufferings  of  Maternity ;  and  man  can  commit  no  greater 
crime  against  ^yoman   as  a  wife  and  a  mother,  against  his  child,  against  society  and 
against  Humanity,  than  to  impose  on  her  a  maternity  whose  responsibilities  and  suffer- 
ings she  is  not  wilhng  to  accept  and  endure. 


c^  yc-'i 


% 


1 


THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 


Whereas,  The  assumed  superiority  of  Man  over  Woman  has  held  her  in  submission, 
and  entailed  slavery  and  dependence  on  the  sex  and  misery  on  the  race  ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  immediate  steps  should  be  taken  to  remove  that  error  and  its  conse- 
quences, and  place  Woman  politically,  educationally,  industrially  and  socially,  on  perfect 
equality  with  Man. 

FREE   TRADE. 

Resolved,  That  natural  justice,  individual  and  social  morality,  the  peace,  material 
wealth  and  prosperity  of  Nations,  and  the  spirit  of  human  brotherhood,  demand,  that  all 
international  Tariffs  be  immediately  and  forever  abolished,  and  that  Governments,  in  all 
their  various  departments,  be  supported  by  direct  taxation;  and  that  America,  as  a 
Eepublican  government,  is  particularly  called  upon  immediately  to  lead  off  in  this  im- 
portant reform,  thereby  promoting  the  best  interests  of  its  inhabitants. 

LAND   REFORM. 

y  //  ^/  -   Resolved,  That  the  earth,  like  the  air  and  light,  belongs  in  common  to  the  children  of 

^^men,  and  on  it  each  human  being  is  alike  dependant.    Each  child,  by  virtue  of  its  exist- 

/  ence,  has  an  equal  and  an  inalienable  right  to  so  much  of  the  earth's  surface  as  is  con- 

\  0^i—     venient,  by  proper  culture,  to  support  and  perfect  its  development,  and  none  has  a  right 

to  any  more ;  therefore,  all  laws  authorizing  and  sustaining  private  property  in  land  for 

■'^1         the  purpose  of  speculation,  and  which  prevent  men  and  women  from  possessing  any  laud 

njt^n^  •  without  paying  for  it,  are  as  unjust  as  would  be  laws  compelling  them  to  pay  for  air  and 

/   light,  and  ought  to  be  at  once  and  forever  repealed.  ^  ,.  /ua  a 

V^    '^^^d^\r    i^  -  ^^^    SABBATH.  y 

,^ji-    ^^■'^^Whereas,  The  Jewish  Sabbath  is  confessedly  abolished  by  the  authority  of  the  Gospel 
Dispensation,  and 

Whereas,  The  same  authority  sets  apart  no  other  day  to  be  similarly  observed ;  there- 
fore, 

Resolved,  That  all  efforts  of  churches  and  priests  to  enforce  an  observance  of  a 
Christian  Sabbath  as  of  Divine  appointment,  is  a  flagrant  violation  of  individual  right, 
and  must  be  prosecuted  in  a  dishonest  disregard  of  the  spirit  and  positive  teachings  of 
the  New  Testament. 

THE  BIBLE. 

Resolved,  That  nothing  is  true  or  right,  and  nothing  is  false  or  wrong,  because  it  is 
sanctioned  or  condemned  by  the  Bible ;  therefore,  the  Bible  is  powerless  to  prove  any 
doctrine  to  be  true,  or  any  practice  to  be  right,  and  it  should  never  be  quoted  for  that 
purpose. 

MAK. 

Whereas,  Man,  as  a  social  being,  depends  on  his  fellow  man  for  the  cultivation  and  de- 
velopment of  his  physical,  mental ,  and,  moral  powers ;  and,  whereas,  owing  to  the  limita- 
tion and  vicissitudes  of  life,  he  can  accomplish  but  little  for  his  own  or  future  genera- 
tions, therefore, 

1 .  Resolved,  That  the  duties  of  man  belong  to  man,  and  the  time,  talent  and  means 
spent  on  or  for  any  other  purpose,  are  detrimental  to  human  progress  and  a  robbery 
of  the  race. 

2.  Resolved,  That  the  moral  law  is  th3  natural  growth  of  a  healthy  condition  of  social 
life,  and  that  a  study  of  the  nature  of  man  and  the  relation  he  sustains  to  his  fellow  man 
can  alone  give  him  the  knowledge  of  the  laws  to  govern  him  rightly. 

3.  Resolved,  That  no  system  or  creed  can  be  useful  that  does  not  tend  to  the  removal  of 
ignorance,  poverty,  vice,  and  suffering,  and  promote  freedom,  intelligence,  and  happiness. 

4.  Whereas,  The  character  of  man  is  formed  for  him  by  the  combined  powers  of  or- 
ganization previous  to  birth  and  influence  after  birth,  therefore, 

5.  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  highest  duty  of  society  to  investigate  and  remove  the 
causes  which  have  a  tendency  to  form  inferior  or  vicious  characters. 

6.  Resolved,  That  the  time  and  devotion  spent  on  religious  service,  can  confer  no  ben- 
efit on  an  infinite  and  independent  power,  and  can  therefore  be  no  virtue. 

On  motion,  it  was  Voted,  That  all  persons  desirous  of  introducing  resolu- 
tions for  the  consideration  of  the  Convention,  be  requested  to  present  them 
through  the  Business  Committee. 

On  motion,  it  was  Voted,  That  the  resolutions  presented  by  the  Business 
Committee  be  printed  for  the  use  of  the  Convention. 


WORSHIP.  11 

On  motion,  it  was  Voied,  That  Mr.  J.  M.  W.  Yerrinton,  of  Boston,  be 
employed  to  report  the  proceedings  of  the  Convention. 

On  motion.  Voted,  That  the  time  of  speakers  be  limited  to  ten  minutes, 
except  in  the  case  of  those  specially  invited  to  address  the  Convention. 

The  hours  of  meeting  were  fixed  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  two  in 
the  afternoon,  and  seven  in  the  evening ;  and  it  was  also  determined  that 
the  forenoon  session  should  close  at  twelve  m.,  and  the  afternoon  at  five  and 
a  half,  P.M. 

Mrs.  Ernestine  L.  Rose,  of  New  York,  then  briefly  addressed  the 
Convention.  She  said: — This  being  a  If^ree  Convention,  and,  as  we  hope, 
composed  of  Free  Men  and  Women,  and  as  we  have  no  Pope  to  govern  us, 
it  is  hoped  that  every  question  presented  will  be  taken  into  consideration  by 
all  persons  present,  not  as  coming  from  a  Convention  belonging  to  some  one 
else,  but  as  from  their  own  Convention ;  and  when  motions  are  put,  all  will 
bear  in  mind  that  it  is  their  duty  to  vote,  yea  or  nay,  and  give  us  their 
voice.  It  seems  strange,  yet  it  is  true,  that  there  are  persons  here  who  have 
come  hundreds  of  miles  to  attend  this  meeting  to  promote  the  objects  which 
they  have  at  heart,  yet,  when  a  vote  is  called  for,  they  keep  silent,  and  we 
hear  but  one  or  two  noes.  If  you  do  not  vote,  you  are  supposed  to  consent, 
for  "  silence  gives  consent."  It  is  high  time  the  ladies  learned  to  say  No. 
Therefore,  if  you  mean  yes,  say  yes  ;  and  if  you  mean  no,  say  no ;  though 
you  find  yourself  in  a  minority  of  one. 

The  President.  The  ladies  have  been  urged  to  vote.  I  hope,  when 
occasion  offers,  they  will  speak.  There  is  but  one  rule  that  I  have  some- 
where read  that  will  stand  in  the  way,  and  that,  we  think,  will  not  seriously 
oppress  them.  It  is  this,  that  woman  shall  not  speak  in  the  churches. 
Now,  as  this  is  not  a  church,  you  have  full  liberty  to  speak. 

Mr.  Thomas  Curtis,  of  Philadelphia,  after  reading  some  extracts  from 
the  Call  of  the  Convention,  said :  —  Many  of  us  have  come  to  this  meeting 
with  the  feeling,  that  these  sentiments  are  to  govern  us ;  let  us  ever  remem- 
ber that  he  who  has  most  of  the  truth  is  the  greatest  servant ;  and  he  who 
knows  how  to  do  right  is  the  servant  of  the  right,  and  has  no  liberty  to  do 
wrong.  Every  question  should  be  thus  tested  by  every  individual,  and  in 
testing  it,  remember  that  if  we  disagree,  it  is  from  our  sense  of  right,  and 
that  the  great  end  to  be  accomplished  is,  the  happiness  of  mankind. 

Mr.  H.  C.  Wright,  said  —  I  wish  to  call  attention  to  one  Resolution :  — 

Resolved,  That  the  time  and  devotion  spent  on  religious  service  can  confer  no  benefit 
on  an  infinite  and  independent  power,  and  can  therefore  be  no  virtue. 

What  is  popularly  called  the  God-worship  of  Christendom  is  alluded  to  in 
this  resolution.  I  assent  to  the  resolution,  and  wish  to  make  a  few  remarks 
upon  it.  Let  us  look  at  the  common  mode  of  worshipping  God.  You  get  to- 
gether upon  the  Sabboth,  at  ten  o'clock ;  the  minister  comes,  and  with  a  solemn 
countenance  rises  and  says  —  "  Let  us  commence  the  worship  of  God."  How  ? 
By  doing  away  war, slavery,  intemperance, and  all  the  evils  which  fill  the  land? 
No.  But  "  let  us  commence  the  worship  of  God  in  the  use  of  the  following 
hymn."  Then  he  makes  a  prayer ;  then  follows  an  address  to  the  people ; 
then  another  prayer ;  and  then  he  says  "  Let  us  conclude  the  service  of  God, 
by  singing  another  hymn."  Then  you  shut  up  your  churches  and  close 
up  your  God  there.  You  do  not  take  him  home  to  your  houses,  your  stores, 
or  your  shops.  You  keep  your  God  closed  up  in  your  churches  through 
the  week,  and  then  open  the  doors  and  let  him  out  again. ,  One  hundred 
millions  of  dollars  are  invested  in  houses  for  God  in  the  United  States,  and 


12  THE    RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

fifty-two  days  of  each  year  are  set  apart  for  God-worship,  and  thousands 
of  priests  are  employed  to  conduct  that  worship. 

This  is  what  they  nriean  by  worship.  Now,  1  ask,  does  this  expenditure 
benefit  man?  Is  there  any  less  drunkenness,  slavery,  or  crime,  in  the  land? 
I  do  not  believe  there  is  any  the  less  of  either.  I  attended  a  Convention  of 
the  people  at  Frankfort,  some  years  since.  The  priests  were  there  and 
began  to  quarrel  as  to  what  form  of  worship  they  should  use  in  opening 
the  exercises  of  the  meeting.  After  disputing  nearly  half  a  day  about  the 
matter,  a  stern  old  peasant  got  up  and  said  —  "I  think  it  is  time  to  stop 
talking  about  worshipping  God,  and  proceed  to  practical  matters." 

Who  was  it  Christ  selected  from  all  Judea  to  represent  his  religion  ? 
Was  it  the  priest  or  the  Levite  ?  Not  at  all.  He  let  them  all  pass,  and 
selected  an  infidel,  a  Samaritan, — for  in  the  estimation  of  the  Jews,  the 
Samaritans  were  considered  as  infidels.  The  priest  and  the  Levite  saw  a  poor 
man  in  distress,  but  instead  of  relieving  him,  they  passed  by  on  the  other 
side.  The  Samaritan  came  jogging  along  on  his  donkey,  took  up  the  poor 
fellow,  placed  him  on  his  beast,  took  him  to  an  inn,  and  told  the  landlord  to 
take  care  of  him,  and  when  I  come  back,  said  he,  I  will  pay  you.  That  is 
what  I  call  worship.  All  these  outward  forms  and  ceremonies  are  practi- 
cally useless.  To  promote  the  happiness  of  our  fellow-men,  by  doing  away 
war,  slavery,  and  intemperance,  that  is  true  worship.  I  cordially  endorse 
the  resolution. 

Mr.  John  Beeson,  said :  —  I  wish  to  second  this  resolution.  We  are 
called  a  Christian  people ;  we  have  a  Tract  Society,  with  half  a  million  of 
dollars,  that  sends  its  volumes  broadcast  over  the  land, — a  Missionary  So- 
ciety, that  sends  its  missionaries  to  all  parts  of  the  earth  to  convert  the 
heathen,  —  with  what  result  ?     War  and  devastation  fill  the  earth. 

It  is  a  fact,  that  the  most  Christian  nations,  so  called,  are  the  most  warlike. 
Is  this  the  religion  of  Christ  ?  Is  this  the  "  Gospel  of  glad  tidings  ?  "  In 
this  view  of  the  case,  it  is  the  duty  of  every  man  and  woman  to  stand  aloof 
from  it.  I  find  an  account  in  the  Tribune  of  a  late  battle  wdth  the  Caman- 
che  Indians,  in  which  it  is  stated  that  seventy-six  Indians  were  killed,  one 
hundred  horses  captured,  and  only  one  white  man  killed.  This  was  called 
a  running  fight.  It  was,  doubtless,  a  massacre.  Such  things  are  a  disgrace 
to  the  country.  I  suggest  that  the  prayers  of  the  churches  be  requested 
for  the  widows  and  orphans  of  the  slain,  and  that  the  Lord's  prayer  be  not 
repeated  till  restitution  be  made  to  those  we  have  injured.  I  hope  to  pre- 
sent this  subject  at  some  future  time. 

H.  Clapp.  I  wish  to  say  a  word  in  regard  to  the  formalities  of  religious 
worship.  Some  time  since,  a  man  was  to  be  hung.  At  the  scaffold,  the 
Lord's  prayer  was  repeated,  and  the  people  said,  Amen  !  If  that  portion 
of  the  prayer  which  says,  ''  Forgive  us  our  trespasses  as  we  forgive  those 
who  trespass  against  us,"  had  been  answered,  they  would  have  all  been 
hung  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye.  And  what  a  spectacle  they  would  have 
presented ! 

Thomas  Curtis,  of  Philadelphia.  I  was  pleased  to  hear  Mr.  Wright 
speak  on  this  resolution.  I  had  occasion  last  year  to  make  an  estimate  of  the 
cost  of  this  God-worship  in  Philadelphia.  Seven  millions  of  dollars  are  in- 
vested in  God-worship  in  that  city,  and  the  cost  to  society  to  sustain  it  amounts 
to  one  million  six  hundred  and  forty  thousand  dollars,  each  year.  This  is  paid 
to  save  forty  thousand  sinners,  for  this  number  are  connected  with  the  dif- 
ferent religious  societies,  and  as  the  number  does  not  increase,  it  takes  one 
million  six  hundred  and  forty  thousand  dollars  to  keep  them  saved. 


WORSHIP.  13 

How  do  they  worship  God  ?  Mr.  Wright  mentions  prayer.  He  mi»ht 
have  gone  further,  and  told  us  how  they  pray.  "  O  God,"  say  they,  "  Thou 
art  a  great  and  good  God,  and  we  are  the  greatest  scoundrels  and  villains 
on  thy  footstool,  deserving  of  eternal  damnation,"  —  and  so  this  story  goes 
on.  All  the  time,  money,  and  means  that  can  be  spared  are  wanted  for  this 
God-worship,  and  nothing  can  be  spared  for  other  purposes. 

Now,  what  is  the  use  of  all  this  kind  of  worship  ?  When  men  and 
women  learn  the  idea  that  the  best  means  of  fitting  themselves  for  another 
world  is  to  be  strong  in  the  good  deeds  of  this  life,  then  they  can  enjoy  the 
future. 

The  President.     Will  Mr.  Curtis  tell  us  whether  they  are  saved  or  not? 

Mr.  Curtis.  They  are  saved  from  being  any  thing  practical,  from  any 
thing  good  in  this  world.  Like  the  one  we  read  of,  who,  when  the  devil 
was  cast  out  of  him,  returned  and  took  seven  other  evil  spirits  —  the  last  state 
of  that  man  is  worse  than  the  first. 

Mrs.  E.  L.  Rose.  I  am  glad  the  President  called  attention  to  the  ques- 
tion of  their  being  saved.  They  are  not  saved  in  their  own  way,  for  if  they 
were,  they  would  need  their  churches  and  priests  no  longer.  It  must  be  on 
the  principle  of  repent  and  sin  again,  that  they  keep  their  ministers  and 
churches  to  save  the  people.  I  fully  agree  with  the  resolution  and  the 
remarks  of  Mr.  Wright.  I  wish  to  say  a  few  words  on  that  resolution. 
The  way  I  understand  it  is  this — I  need  not  go  into  a  religious  debate — if 
there  is  a  God,  or  gods,  they  are  infinite,  and  they  are  independent ;  they 
need  no  services  from  men;  man  can  do  nothing  to  do  them  any  good; 
human  acts  would  be  entirely  useless.  Therefore,  I  say,  no  matter  about  yy 
religion, — take  it  for  granted  that  it  is  true;  no  matter  about  gods,  —  take  it  Z^;/^ 
for  granted  they  exist.  If  they  are  infinite  and  independent,  they  do  not  Cy/i^/ 
need  our  services.  But  who  does  ?  You  and  I.  We  need  each  others' 
services,  each  other's  kindness  and  love.  It  is  but  little  we  can  do  in  this 
life.  Man's  time,  talents,  and  means  are  limited.  We  have  but  little  to 
spare  to  make  man  what  nature,  or  God,  if  you  please,  designed  him  to  be 
—  intelligent,  virtuous,  and  happy.  I  am  opposed  for  one  (I  utter  no 
thoughts  but  for  myself,)  I  am  opposed  to  all  the  creeds,  systems,  legisla- 
tions, all  the  writings,  printings,  or  acts  of  men  with  regard  to  any  other 
being,  except  men  and  women  here.  If  there  is  another  life,  I  say  the 
same.  Let  us  do  our  duty  to  humanity  here,  and  when  we  reach  another 
state  of  existence,  we  will  attend  to  the  duties  of  that  state.  Act  from  the 
convictions  of  to-day.  If  to-morrow  you  change  your  opinions,  utter  them 
without  fear  of  gods  or  men.  Work  for  humanity,  for  in  working  for 
humanity  you  work  for  yourself. 

This  is  called  heresy,  and  the  more  particularly  so  if  such  heresies  spring 
from  the  lips  of  woman.  Truth  is  not  the  less  true  if  it  come  from  woman, 
an  error  none  the  less  false  if  it  purport  to  come  from  gods.  War,  slavery, 
and  ignorance  are  produced  by  religion. 

I  will  not  take  up  any  more  of  your  time  now,  but  would  like  to  speak  at 
some  future  time  of  the  causes  of  these  social  evils. 

The  Convention  then  adjourned,  to  meet  at  two  o'clock,  p.m. 

AFTERNOON    SESSION. 

The  Convention  was  called  to  order  at  two  o'clock.  The  "  Harmonial 
Club,"  of  Troy,  sang  an  appropriate  song,  which  was  heartily  applauded, 
after  which  Henry  C.  Wright  took  the  stand,  and  spoke  as  follows :  — 


14  THE  RUTLAND    CONTENTION. 

SPEECH  OF  HENRY  C.  WRIGHT. 

To  each  human  being  there  are  two  standards,  by  one  of  which  the  truth 
or  falsehood  of  every  principle,  and  the  right  or  wrong  of  every  act,  must 
be  tested,  i.  e. :  his  own  conviction  or  the  conviction  of  another,  —  his  own 
soul  or  the  soul  of  another.  Each  one  must  decide  for  himself  as  to  what  is 
true,  and  what  is  right,  or  somebody  else  must  decide  for  him.  Whatever 
dogma  in  theology,  maxim  in  morals,  or  rule  of  faith  and  practice  in  com- 
mercial, social,  or  domestic  life  a  man  adopts,  he  must  adopt  on  the  convic- 
tion and  authority  of  his  own  soul,  or  on  the  conviction  and  authority  of 
the  soul  of  another. 

Are  you  a  Christian,  a  Jew,  a  Mahometan,  or  a  Brahmin  ?  Your  views 
of  God  and  man,  as  set  forth  by  your  particular  religion,  are  received  by 
you  because  your  own  soul  affirms  them  to  be  true,  or  because  some  other 
soul  decides  them  to  be  true.  Do  you  accept  the  Calvinistic  idea  of  God, 
of  man,  of  heaven  and  hell  ?  You  adopt  the  Calvinistic  creed  and  live  a 
Calvinistic  life,  because  your  own  soul,  or  because  the  soul  of  another  tells 
you  to. 

The  Romanist  goes  to  Mass,  prostrates  himself  before  a  priest  at  the  Con- 
fessional, counts  his  beads,  crosses  himself,  uncovers  his  head  in  presence  of 
a  wafer,  believes  in  purgatory,  and  the  infallibility  of  the  Pope  and  the 
Church,  on  the  testimony  of  his  own  soul,  or  on  the  testimony  of  the  soul  of 
Paul,  or  Peter,  or  the  priest,  or  of  some  person  or  persons  of  the  past  or 
present,  outside  of  himself. 

The  Protestant  believes  that  polygamy,  concubinage,  the  stoning  to  death 
of  sabbath-brealsers,  witches,  heretics,  and  the  slaughter  of  infants  and  chil- 
dren for  the  sins  of  their  parents  or  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  stories  of 
Samson  and  the  fable  of  Jonah  and  the  whale,  were  once  all  right  and  just  and 
true,  and  sanctioned  by  a  God  of  justice  and  truth,  on  the  conviction  of  his  own 
soul,  or  of  the  soul  of  somebody  else.  The  Christian  receives  as  true  the 
story  of  the  Miraculous  Conception,  the  idea  of  the  Vicarious  Atonement,  of 
original  sin,  of  total  depravity,  and  of  an  endless  hell,  on  conviction  or 
on  authority.  The  Hindoo  mother  casts  her  own  child  into  the  jaws  of  a 
crocodile,  and  the  Christian  mother  throws  her  neighbor's  child  into  the  still 
more  merciless  and  bloody  jaws  of  American  slavery,  at  her  own  bidding, 
or  at  the  bidding  of  another.  The  Mahometan  consigns  woman  to  the  pol- 
lutions of  his  seraglio,  and  the  American  Christian  consigns  her  to  the  still 
more  fearful  pollutions  of  slavery,  impelled  by  the  promptings  of  his  own 
soul,  or  of  the  soul  of  another.  The  pirate  consigns  to  an  ocean  grave  those 
who  fall  into  his  hands,  and  the  American  Christian  consigns  to  the  more 
dreaded  and  more  bloody  grave  of  American  slavery,  the  fugitive  slave  who 
flees  to  him  for  protection,  at  the  instigation  and  on  the  authority  of  his  own 
soul  or  of  that  of  another. 

Thus,  in  all  our  opinions,  our  words  and  acts,  we  are  and  ever  must  be 
instigated  and  governed  each  one  by  his  own  soul,  or  by  the  soul  of  another. 
As  a  law  of  life,  Nature's  God  leaves  to  each  man  and  woman  but  one 
alternative ;  his  own  interpretation  of  the  true  and  right,  or  that  of 
another.  My  soul  commands  me  to  go  South  ;  the  soul  of  each  and  every 
other  human  being  commands  me  to  go  North.  I  must  obey  one.  The 
God  that  speaks  in  my  soul  commands  me  to  shelter,  to  feed  and  protect  the 
fugitive  slave  against  all  kidnappers,  whether  in  the  person  of  a  president, 
a  judge,  a  marshal,  or  of  a  private  individual ;  but  the  God  that  speaks  in 
James  Buchanan,  Judge  Taney,  Judge  Loring,  the  United  States  Congress 


AUTHORITY    VS.    CONVICTION.  15 

and  Government,  commands  me  to  thrust  the  wanderer  in  search  of  liberty 
from  my  door,  and  drive  him  back  to  whips  and  chains.  I  must  obey  one 
or  the  other. 

Which  ought  a  man  to  do  ?  Love,  obey,  and  worship  the  God  that  speaks 
in  his  own  soul,  or  the  God  who  speaks  in  the  soul  of  Jesus,  of  Mahomet, 
of  Moses,  of  Confucius,  or  in  some  other  man,  or  church,  or  government  of 
the  past  or  present?  Thus  saith  God,  as  Moses  understood  him.  Suffer 
not  a  witch,  nor  an  idolater,  nor  a  heretic,  nor  a  sabbath-breaker,  nor  diso- 
bedient children,  nor  a  blasphemer,  nor  a  manstealer,  (a  slaveholder,)  nor  a 
murderer  to  live ;  but,  thus  saith  God,  as  I  understand  Him :  Suffer  them 
all  to  live,  and  by  love,  by  forgiveness,  by  patience,  by  long-suffering,  and  by 
overcoming  evil  with  good,  win  them  to  a  purer  and  nobler  life.  Whose 
behests  ought  I  to  obey  ?  Christendom  commands  me  to  receive  tlie  Bible, 
as  a  whole,  as  of  Divine  origin,  as  an  absolute  and  final  authority,  and  as  an 
infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  on  pain  and  penalty  of  the  worm  that 
never  dies,  and  the  fire  that  is  never  quenched  ;  Mahometanism  commands 
me  to  receive  the  Koran,  and  Hindooism  the  Shaster,  in  the  same  way,  and 
under  the  same  pains  and  penalties ;  but  my  own  soul  forbids  me  thus  to 
accept  them,  and  requires  me  to  regard  them,  so  far  as  their  origin,  authority, 
and  infallibility  are  concerned,  as  I  do  other  books  ;  and  this  it  requires  me 
to  do,  or  to  ignore  the  office  of  reason  and  conscience,  to  prostitute  my  moral 
nature,  to  degrade  my  manhood,  and  forfeit  my  self-respect.  Ought  I, 
evenly  and  on  all  occasions,  to  be  true  to  the  teachings  of  my  soul,  or  to  the 
teachings  of  Christendom,  or  of  Mahometanism,  or  Hindooism  ? 

The  people  of  the  United  States,  through  their  government,  declare  that 
the  Federal  Constitution  is  adopted  to  establish  justice,  and  to  protect  and 
secure  to  all  "life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,"  and  require  me  to 
give  it  my  allegiance  ;  my  soul  declares  that  the  Constitution,  in  regard  to 
the  colossal  sins  of  War  and  Slavery,  and  the  protection  of  life  and  liberty, 
is  a  "  covenant  with  death,  and  an  agreement  with  hell,"  and  that  allegiance 
to  it  is  rebellion  against  God.  Whose  declaration  ought  I  to  receive  and 
obey  ?  Is  there  an  intelligent,  honest  and  sane  man  on  earth  who  would 
dare  to  assume  the  responsibility  of  telling  me  that  I  am  morally  bound  to 
be  subject  to  the  authority  and  obey  the  behests  of  another,  in  any  relation 
of  life,  when  that  other  requires  me  to  believe  or  to  do  what  my  soul  for- 
bids? 

If  there  be  those  in  Church  or  State,  rendered  so  obfuscated  and  foolhardy 
in  their  intellectual  and  moral  natures,  by  a  blind  and  puerile  reverence  for 
and  devotion  to  the  authority  of  a  book,  a  church,  a  priesthood,  a  constitu- 
tion, a  court,  or  of  some  individual  reformer,  warrior,  or  statesman,  as  to  ad- 
vise me  thus  to  cast  down  from  the  throne  of  my  manhood  my  own  soul, 
and  place  the  soul  of  Moses,  of  Jesus,  of  Paul,  of  Mahomet,  of  Washington,  or 
of  any  other  man  or  body  of  men  in  its  stead,  thus  to  snatch  the  sceptre  of 
mv  life  from  the  grasp  of  my  own  soul,  and  place  it  in  the  hand  of  some 
Cnurch  or  State,  of  some  priest  or  politician,  I  can  only  say  to  and  of  them, 
in  the  language  of  the  Martyr  of  Calvary  — "  Father,  forgive  them,  they 
know  not  what  they  do.''  Their  task  is  a  hopeless  one.  Church  and  State 
may  consign  my  body  to  the  dungeon  or  the  gallows  for  spurning  their  un- 
natural and  monstrous  claims,  and  for  trampling  their  authority  beneath  my 
feet ;  but  my  soul  is  my  own,  and  this  no  power  in  the  universe,  outside  of 
itself,  shall  overawe.  Over  its  empire  my  own  soul  ought  to  hold,  and  mu^t 
hold,  an  absolute  and  eternal  control.  Why  ?  Because  my  destiny  depends 
on  the  decisions  of  my  soul.     Man  may  err  through  ignorance,  and  still  not 


16  THE    RUTLAND     CONVENTION. 

fall  under  self-condemnation.  Use  all  the  powers  and  means  you  possess  to 
know  the  true  and  do  the  right,  and  then  you  will  have  the  approval  of  your 
own  soul.  Though  your  decision  may  not  accord  with  absolute  truth  and 
justice,  yet  having  done  the  best  you  know  how,  you  will  stand  acquitted  by 
your  own  consciousness.  What  is  it  to  me,  in  the  great  future  of  my  being, 
what  opinions  of  my  principles  or  practices  are  formed  by  other  men,  or  by 
the  Church  or  State,  so  long  as  I  am  conscious  of  the  approval  of  my  own 
soul  ?  Though  all  the  universe,  outside  of  myself,  approve,  if  I  condemn 
myself,  their  approval  is  nought  to  me  ;  though  all  else  pronounce  me  wor- 
thy an  entrance  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  if  I  pronounce  an  opposite  sen- 
tence on  myself,  it  can  be  of  no  avail.  Though  all  others  decide  that  I  de- 
serve a  seat  at  God's  right  hand,  if  my  own  soul  assures  me  that  I  am 
deserving  a  place  in  the  lowest  hell,  it  will  avail  me  nothing.  So,  should  the 
judgment  of  all  the  universe,  outside  of  my  own  soul,  consign  me  to  hell,  and 
my  own  consciousness  decide  that  I  deserved  a  nobler,  more  exalted  and 
happy  destiny,  I  should  still  be  in  heaven.  I  must  have  regard  to  the  au- 
thority of  that  tribunal  only,  whose  decision  is  to  determine  my  destiny.  My 
soul,  alone,  is  the  arbiter  of  my  destiny ;  therefore,  its  authority  ought  to  be 
absolute  and  final  in  deciding  what  I  shall  think,  say,  and  do. 

Again  :  I  must  he  responsihle,  individually  and  alone,  for  my  opinions  and 
practices.  If,  in  obedience  to  an  outward  authority,  I  violate  a  law  of  my 
being,  I  must  suffer  the  penalty.  Authority  decides  for  the  soldier  that  he 
must  shoot  a  fellow-man  for  sleeping  at  his  post,  or  for  desertion,  and  for 
the  sheriff,  that  he  must  hang  his  brother  as  a  traitor  for  seeking  to  change 
the  form  of  his  government ;  conviction,  forbids  them  to  do  it.  The  power 
that  requires  of  them  this  murderous  deed  cannot  bear  the  responsibility, 
for  it  is  a  soulless,  godless  organization,  and  can  feel  no  compunction,  no  re- 
gret ;  it  becomes  a  nonenity,  when  blood  is  to  be  answered  for.  The  man 
who  shoots  or  hangs,  though  clothed  with  the  authority  of  the  State,  must 
suffer  the  penalty  of  this  violation  of  the  laws  of  his  sympathetic,  social  and 
moral  nature.  The  soldier  or  sheriff  may  kill  his  brother  man,  and  violate 
his  right  to  life,  but  the  deepest  wrong  is  done  to  himself.  He  does  an  in- 
jury to  his  own  soul,  for  which  a  deep  and  lasting  repentance  alone  can  atone. 
An  external  authority  says  to  the  father — "  Stone  your  child  to  death  for 
disobedience  ; "  his  own  paternal  heart  forbids.  Will  the  authority  that 
requires  the  unnatural  deed  bear  its  necessary  result  ?  It  cannot;  the  ago- 
nized father  must  bear  that.  An  external  authority  commands  me  to  pluck 
out  my  right  eye,  or  cut  off  my  right  hand,  to  the  glory  of  God,  against 
the  earnest  protest  of  my  entire  being.  I  am  obedient  to  that  authority,  and 
do  the  unnatural  deed.  Who  is  responsible  ?  That  authority  loses  nothing, 
suffers  nothing ;  but  I  am  minus  a  right  hand,  or  a  right  eye  :  a  poor,  muti- 
lated, decrepid  man,  made  so  through  respect  for  and  obedience  to  an  exter- 
nal authority,  and  against  the  conviction  and  imperative  commands  of  my 
own  soul. 

In  responsibility,  and  in  deciding  what  is  true  or  false  in  principle,  or 
right  or  wrong  in  practice.  Alone  with  God,  has  been  the  watchword  of 
my  life  ;  alone  with  my  God,  not  with  yours  ;  alone  with  the  God  that  speaks 
in  my  soul,  not  with  the  God  that  spake  in  the  soul  of  Jesus,  or  Mahomet, 
nor  with  the  God  that  speaks  in  the  Bible,  the  Koran,  in  the  Church,  the 
Priesthood,  the  Constitution,  or  the  Government.  The  God  that  spake  in 
Moses,  Isaiah,  Paul,  Jesus ;  that  speaks  in  the  Bible,  the  Koran,  the  Church 
or  State,  is  nought  to  me  as  an  authoritative  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  —  a 
law  of  life  and  a  court  of  final  appeal.     God,  as  apprehended  by  the  gentle 


AUTHORITY    VS.    CONVICTION.  17 

and  heroic  Jesus,  was,  to  him,  an  object  of  supreme  worship,  whose  decisions 
were  the  decisions  of  his  own  soul,  and  therefore  final  with  him.  But  his 
God,  or  Iti's  idea,  or  conception  of  God,  is  nought  to  me  because  it  is  his.  I 
am  not  amenable  to  God  as  apprehended  by  Jesus ;  his  decisions  have  no 
weight,  no  authority  with  me,  because  they  are  the  behests  of  God,  as  Jesus 
received  him.  I  am  under  no  obligations  to  what  Jesus  called  God  ;  I  owe 
him  no  duties,  he  is  no  lawgiver,  judge,  or  ruler  to  me  ;  my  soul  can  give 
him  no  respect,  no  reverence,  no  love,  no  worship,  because  Jesus  esteemed 
him  worthy  of  all  love  and  worship.  Because  he  was  every  thing  to  Jesus, 
it  follows  not  that  he  must  be  or  ought  to  be  every  thing  to  me  ;  for  he  may 
have  been  the  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  Great  I  AM,  the  All  in  All  to  Jesus, 
yet  nothing  to  me  as  a  rule  of  life,  —  a  governing  power.  God,  as  appre- 
hended in  my  soul,  is  the  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  Great  I  AM,  to  me. 

But  suppose  the  idea  of  God,  as  received  by  Jesus,  is  identical  with  that 
received  by  me ;  then  both  have  exactly  the  same  God,  both  love  and  wor- 
ship the  same  being  ;  but  Jesus  does  not  receive  my  idea  of  God,  because  it 
is  mine,  nor  do  I  his,  because  it  is  his  ;  Jesus  is  as  much  bound  to  accept 
and  worship  my  God,  because  it  is  mine,  as  I  am  his,  because  it  is  his.  My 
authority  over  him  is  the  same  as  his  over  me ;  neither  has  the  least  over 
the  other.  He  is  as  much  bound  to  receive  my  ideas  of  God  and  man,  on 
my  authority  as  I  am  to  take  his  on  his  authority.  "  Thus  saith  Jesus ;  '* 
"  Thus  saith  II.  C.  Wright."  As  an  authority  to  decide  what  is  true  and 
right,  both  formulas  are  alike;  neither  has  any  force.  God,  as  Jesus 
understands  him,  is  a  law  of  life  to  him ;  God,  as  I  understand  him,  is  a  law 
of  life  to  me ;  and  each  soul  owes  and  must  yield  allegiance  to  its  own  God, 
and  none  other.  The  Jew  must  have  no  other  God  before  his  God ;  the 
Mahometan  none  before  his.  The  Christian  must  exalt  the  God  of  no  other 
above  his ;  but  each  must  be  true  to  his  own  God,  and  love  him  with  all  the 
heart,  soul,  mind,  and  strength. 

God  is  to  each  one,  practically,  what  he  conceives  him  to  be.  Each  one's 
conception  of  God  will  correspond  with  his  moral  organization  and  develop- 
ment ;  for  God  is  love,  not  logic,  and  is  apprehended  by  the  heart,  not  by 
the  head,  in  the  moral,  and  not  in  the  intellectual  nature.  "  Blessed  are  the 
pure  in  heart,"  (not  the  giant  in  intellect)  "  for  they  shall  see  God."  Make 
bright  the  heart,  the  love  nature,  and  your  God  will  be  bright ;  but  if  your 
heart  be  foul  and  dark,  your  God  will  be  foul  and  dark.  Cleanse,  then,  and 
exalt  your  moral  nature,  and  your  conception  of  God  will  be  pure  and 
ennobling.  Man's  conception  of  God  must  necessarily  correspond  to  his 
moral  conditions,  and  the  only  way  to  give  to  men  nobler  and  more  exalted 
ideas  of  God,  is  to  ennoble  and  elevate  their  moral  nature. 

Man's  love  and  reverence  for  God  are  but  the  echo  of  his  love  and  rever- 
ence for  man.  He  that  says  he  loves  God  while  he  hates  man,  is  a  liar. 
He  that  says,  I  respect  God,  while  he  shows  his  contempt  for  man  by  mak- 
ing him  drunk,  by  enslaving,  shooting  or  hanging  him,  or  in  any  way  dese- 
crating and  polluting  his  body  and  soul,  is  a  liar,  and  the  truth  is  not  in  him. 
How  can  he  worship  God  while  he  dishonors  and  degrades  himself  and  his 
fellow-beings  by  tobacco,  by  alcohol,  by  licentiousness,  by  war  and  slavery? 
He  that  loves  man  loves  God.  Those  who  most  truly  reverence  man  and 
woman,  most  truly  reverence  God  ;  those  who  most  tenderly  and  reverently 
cherish  their  fellow  beings,  most  truly  worship  God. 

Jesus  selected  the  infidel  and  atheist  of  his  day  to  represent  his  spirit  and 

his  religion  rather  than  the  priest  and  Levite.     The  Samaritan,  without 

religion  and  without  God,  worshipped  God,  as  Jesus  said,  helping  his  brother 

man,  who  had  fallen  among  thieves ;  the  priest  and  deacon,  in  muttering 

2 


18  THE    RUTLAND     CONVENTION. 

senseless  prayers  and  performing  idle  ceremonies.  So,  those  who  are  now 
denounced  as  infidels  and  atheists,  worship  God  by  helping  those  who  are 
fallen  among  the  thieves  and  robbers  of  our  day,  while  priests,  deacons,  and 
churches  worship  him  by  baptism  and  communion,  by  singing  and  praying, 
and  by  reverence  for  days,  houses,  creeds.  Bibles,  and  titles.  Who  most 
truly  represent  the  spirit  and  teachings  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ? 

Thus  the  individual  soul,  that  must  bear  in  itself  the  results  of  adopting 
any  principle  or  of  performing  any  action,  ought  to  decide  for  itself  what 
principle  it  shall  adopt,  what  acts  it  shall  perform,  and  what  God  it  shall 
worship. 

Again :  when  man  submits  to  the  guidance  of  an  external  authority,  no 
matter  by  whom  exercised,  he  is  ever  liable  to  be  placed  in  a  false  relation 
to  himself  and  to  all  around  him.  Conviction  points  east;  authority  west. 
If  I  yield  to  authority  and  crush  conviction,  I  wage  war  with  myself.  A 
conflict  is  begun  in  my  soul  which  can  be  ended  only  by  the  entire  subjec- 
tion of  my  body  and  soul  to  the  will  of  another,  or  by  the  absolute  and  eter- 
nal triumph  of  my  individual  conviction  over  all  external  authority,  as  a 
law  of  life  for  me.  My  soul  says  that  the  miraculous  conception,  total 
depravity,  and  vicarious  atonement,  are  untrue ;  the  church  and  priesthood 
say  they  are  true.  I  cannot  obey  both,  for  the  decision  of  each  is  the 
antagonism  of  the  other.  If  I  reject  the  witness  of  my  own  soul,  and  obey 
the  behest  of  ecclesiastical  and  priestly  authority,  I  must  live  in  an  unceas- 
ing conflict  with  myself.  I  can  know  no  rest.  Therefore,  a  government  of 
authority,  as  a  substitute  for  one  based  on  conviction,  must  end  in  unrest 
and  conflict  in  each  individual  soul. 

Again :  efforts  to  subject  the  human  soul  to  an  authority  outside  of  itself, 
must  place  each  individual  in  a  posture  of  antagonism  to  every  other.  In 
its  very  nature,  the  human  soul  must  seek  to  cast  off  a  government  of 
authority.  It  does  and  must  of  necessity  feel  that  its  own  behests  are  a 
safer  guide  than  the  enactments  of  any  church  or  state ;  that  its  own  concep- 
tion of  God  is  more  true  to  nature  than  the  conception  of  any  other  man, 
or  of  any  body  of  men.  Attempt  to  rule  me  by  any  authority  or  power 
exterior  to  my  own  soul,  and  you  array  all  my  powers  in  rebellion  against 
you.  I  feel  that  you  are  unjust.  Human  nature  wisely  repudiates  the 
assumption  and  exercise  of  all  arbitrary  authority,  as  well  as  subjection  to  it. 
All  authority  of  man  over  man,  whether  claimed  and  wielded  by  individuals 
or  by  combinations,  must,  necessarily,  be  arbitrary  and  capricious ;  only  the 
authority  of  each  soul  over  itself  can  be  fixed  and  permanent,  and  an  ever- 
present  controlling  power.  The  man,  or  the  set  of  men,  that  claims  and 
exercises  authority  over  another  man,  in  any  relation,  wrongs  himself  as 
well  as  the  cowering  victim  of  his  power.  Witness  husbands,  who  claim 
and  exercise  authority  over  the  person  or  property  of  their  wives  ;  parents, 
who  rule  their  children  by  authority  rather  than  love ;  priests  and  rulers, 
who  claim  and  exercise  authority  over  men ;  the  officers  of  armies  and 
slaveholders,  who  claim  and  exercise  the  right  to  govern  men  by  authority, 
—  all  are  living  witnesses  to  the  fact,  that  those  who  seek  to  control  men 
and  women  by  authority,  necessarily  brutalize  and  degrade  themselves,  and 
all  whom  they  seek  thus  to  govern.  The  church  or  state  that  claims  and 
exercises  the  right  to  rule  men  and  women  by  authority,  has  in  it  the  ele- 
ments of  anarchy  and  blood,  for  it  must  of  necessity  grow  more  and  more 
arbitrary  and  absolute  in  its  exercise  of  power,  till  it  has  lost  all  respect  for 
individual  conviction,  and  the  authority  of  each  soul  over  itself  is  merged  in 
an  absolute  despotism ;  and  conscience,  intuition  and  reason  are  set  aside. 


AUTHORITY    VS.    CONVICTION.  19 

and  the  behests  of  church  and  state,  of  Bible,  constitution,  or  of  some  indi- 
vidual prophet  of  the  past  or  present,  are  enforced  by  fines,  imprisonment 
and  death,  as  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  practice.  Then  comes  bloody  revo- 
lution ;  conviction  defies  authority;  the  individual  soul  spurns  the  despotism 
of  oriranizations;  God,  in  the  individual  man  or  woman,  dethrones  the  God 
of  all  Bibles,  churches  and  governments,  and  in  the  conflict,  reason  is  dark- 
ened, conscience  is  palsied,  the  moral  nature  stunted  or  perverted,  love 
turned  to  hate,  kindness  to  cruelty,  and  the  whole  soul  darkened  or  embit- 
tered, and  man  turned  into  a  wolf  or  a  fiend.  Under  a  government  of 
authority,  order  reigns  only  where  the  authority  is  absolute  and  unlimited 
over  person,  property,  life,  and  liberty,  and  the  last  pulsation  of  the  indi- 
vidual soul,  panting  to  be  free,  is  stifled  in  blood. 

Again:  slavery,  with  its  unutterable  horrors;  war,  with  its  fire  and  sword, 
its  robberies,  and  its  murders,  its  widows  and  orphans ;  the  inquisition,  with 
its  tortures,  its  agonies  and  its  burnings  alive ;  what  are  all  these  but  the 
natural  and  necessary  fruits  of  external  authority  as  a  governing  power  ? 
No  man  would  ever  be  a  slave  or  a  soldier  but  under  this  imbruting  dispen- 
sation. Four  millions  of  men,  women,  and  children  are  turned  into  brutes, 
and  sold  and  used  as  chattels,  in  deference  to  the  authority  of  the  Bible  and 
Constitution ;  the  gallows  must  be  sustained  as  the  great  instrument  of  sal- 
vation to  church  and  state,  because  authority  says.  Whoso  sheddeth  man's 
blood,  by  man  shall  Ms  blood  be  shed — though  the  same  authority  repudiates 
the  principle  of  blood  for  blood  ;  one  hundred  thousand  poor,  friendless  old 
men  and  women  were  hung,  drowned,  and  burned  to  death  in  one  century 
by  the  priests  and  churches,  because  authority  said  "  Suffer  not  a  witch  to 
live."  Millions  have  been  slaughtered  by  Jewish,  Christian,  and  Mahom- 
etan priests  and  churches,  because  their  authority  said  of  heretics  and 
those  who  taught  unpopular  ideas  of  God  and  man,  "  Mine  eye  shall  not 
pity  them,  thou  shalt  show  them  no  mercy,  but  shalt  utterly  root  them  out, 
and  blot  out  their  names  from  under  the  heavens."  Efforts  to  subject  the 
individual  soul  to  an  external  authority  have  dyed  the  earth  with  human 
blood,  and  whitened  it  with  human  bones.  But  in  vain ;  the  struggle  still 
goes  on,  and  was  never  better  understood,  and  more  boldly,  heroically  and 
successfully  maintained,  than  at  the  present  hour. 

Speak  and  act  from  your  own  soul,  not  from  the  soul  of  Jesus ;  think 
your  own  thoughts,  not  the  thoughts  of  Jesus,  except  as  his  thoughts  become 
yours.  So  with  your  feelings.  Never  try  to  feel  as  Jesus  feels ;  never  seek 
to  imbibe  the  spirit  of  Jesus  because  it  is  the  spirit  of  Jesus,  except  as  his 
feelings  become  a  part  of  the  love-life  of  your  own  soul. 

So  think,  feel,  speak  and  act  to  as  well  as  from  yourself,  —  that  is,  with 
reference  to  the  inspection  and  approbation  of  your  own  soul.  Think  and 
feel  only  with  reference  to  your  own  approval,  then  you  will  ever  have  a 
witness  of  your  thoughts  and  feelings.  Speak  with  a  view  to  the  decisions 
of  your  own  soul ;  then  you  will  never  lack  an  audience.  Live  unto  your- 
self not  unto  Jesus  ;  that  is,  live  solely  with  a  view  to  the  approval  of  your 
own  soul,  and  not  of  the  soul  of  Jesus ;  then  you  will  live  in  the  presence 
of  a  Jury,  whose  verdict  must  determine  your  destiny. 

It  is  of  no  account  to  me,  whether  Jesus,  the  Church,  the  State,  or  the 
community  that  professes  to  represent  him,  approve  my  inner  or  outer  life, 
but  it  is  of  moment  to  me  whether  my  own  soul  approves.  I  would  approve 
myself  to  myself;  or,  what  to  me  is  the  same,  to  God,  as  he  is  manifested  in 
my  soul,  and  not  as  he  is  manifest  in  the  soul  of  Jesus. 

Thousands  of  men  and  women,  in  and  out  of  the  body,  are  before  and 


20  THE    RUTLAND     CONVENTION. 

around  me.  To  all  such  I  say,  I  am  speaking  and  living  in  your  presence, 
but  I  am  speaking  and  living  with  a  view  to  meet  and  obey  the  demands, 
and  to  secure  the  approving  verdict  of  my  own  soul. 

Henry  C.  Wright  wields  the  sceptre  of  an  absolute  and  eternal  dominion 
over  my  destiny.  His  presence  is  ever  with  me.  I  cannot  hide  myself  from 
his  All-seeing  eye  —  all-seeing,  so  far  as  my  interior  and  exterior  life  are  con- 
cerned. My  prayer  to  God  is,  "  thy  kingdom  come,  thy  will  be  done,"  (so 
far  as  I  am  concerned,)  as  they  are  revealed  in  the  soul  of  H.  C.  W.,  not  in 
the  soul  of  Jesus,  or  Mahomet,  the  Bible,  or  the  Koran.  Through  him, 
not  through  Jesus,  God  exalts  me  to  heaven,  or  casts  me  down  to  hell. 

From  his  decision  I  have  no  appeal.  His  judgment  is  final.  His  eye  is 
ever  upon  me.  In  his  firm  grasp  he  holds  the  sceptre  of  my  eternal  destiny. 
To  me,  the  thought  is  dear,  but  overwhelming. 

Well  may  I,  then,  address  myself  to  him  ;  well  may  I  live  unto  him ;  for 
I  feel  that  in  him  I  live,  move,  and  have  my  being.     I  must  secure  his  ap- 
proval, or  my  soul  can  know  no  heaven.     I  must  live  with  sole  reference  to 
y<  his  approval. 
V /y       Thus  situated,  can  you  blame  me  for  rejecting  all  Bibles,  all  creeds,  all 

Constitutions,  all  Christs,  all  Gods,  as  authority,  as  rules  of  faith  and  practice, 

yi-^/      outside  my  own  soul  ?     Will  you  talk  to  me  of  an  outward  Authority  as  a 

l^^^^l/J  law  of  life  ?     Will  you  tell  me  that  I  must  ignore  the  intuitions,  the  sympa- 

,  I     thies,  the  affections  and  decisions  of  my  own  soul,  and  substitute  those  of 

A  t±^    Jesus,  or  of  a  soulless  corporation,  as  a  rule  of  faith  and  practice  ?     You  add 

J^^j      insult  to  injury  in  so  doing.     Go  use  your  money,  your  industry,  your  power, 

.   not  to  impose  on  my  soul  the  authority  of  Jesus,  or  of  God  in  Jesus,  in  a 

4.<y^ I  Church,  or  a  State,  but  to  help  me  to  know  myself,  and  to  be  true  to  myself, 

A       Be  not  anxious  to  help  me,  or  any  one,  to  know  Jesus  and  to  be  true  to  him, 

but  to  help  me  to  know  the  laws  of  life  and  health  under  which  I  exist,  and 

to  be  true  to  them.     Seek  not  to  establish  the  empire  of  Jesus  over  me,  or 

of  the  Church  or  State,  of  the  Bible  or  Constitution,  of  Priest  or  Politician, 

called  by  his  name,  but  seek  to  establish  the  empire  of  Henry  C.  Wright 

over  me.     Bring  me  into  subjection  to  the  God  that  rules  in  his  soul.     Help 

my  soul  to  a  righteous  decision  on  all  the  questions  of  life ;  on  slavery,  war, 

alcohol,  tobacco,  government,  religion  ;  on  woman's  rights,  on  marriage,  on 

maternity,  and  then  help  me  to  obey  them.     Then  shall  I  be  all  I  can  be, 

and  all  my  God  wants  me  to  be,  not  all  your  God  wants  me  to  be,  or  the 

God  of  Moses  or  Jesus  wants  me  to  be. 

By  every  man  and  woman,  what  he  or  she  calls  God  is  admitted  to  be 
the  standard  of  truth  and  right,  the  only  supreme  authority,  whose  decisions 
are  absolute  and  final.  But  all  would  have  their  God  embodied  and  made 
visible  and  tangible  in  some  living  object,  or  relation.  To  the  Jew,  this 
supreme  authority  is  embodied  in  Moses ;  to  the  Mahometan,  in  Mahomet, 
and  to  the  Christian,  in  Christ.  The  Christian  thinks  any  amount  of  time, 
labor,  or  money  expended  to  ascertain  the  precise  thoughts  and  feelings  of 
Christ  is  a  most  profitable  investment.  To  know  how  Jesus  felt,  thought, 
and  spoke  on  any  given  question  of  life,  the  Christian  thinks  is  all  he  needs 
to  know.  Is  alcohol  a  deadly  enemy  to  the  life  and  happiness  of  man  ? 
How  does  the  Christian  answer  to  himself  and  the  world  this  question  ?  By 
an  appeal  to  the  facts  that  are  ever  before  him  ?  No ;  but  to  Christ. 
Does  Christ  authorize  its  use  as  a  drink  ?  If  so,  then  it  is  not  a  poison, 
though  the  facts  of  nature,  as  seen  and  known  in  the  past  and  present,  say 
it  is.  Facts  are  nothing  here ;  a  word  or  an  act  of  Jesus  precludes  all  dis- 
cussion.   If  he  drank  alcohol,  or  authorized  it  to  be  drunk,  in  a  single 


AUTHORITY  VS,   CONVICTION.  21 

instance,  then,  though  contradicted  by  all  the  facts  of  its  history,  it  is  not 
injurious  to  life  and  health ! 

Though  all  nature  cries  out  against  man  for  imposing  on  woman  a  mater- 
nity whose  responsibilities  and  sufferings  she  is  not  ready  joyfully  to  assume 
and  endure — for  subjecting  her  to  the  relation  that  leads  to  maternity  without 
her  wish ;  yet  one  word  from  Christ,  speaking  through  Paul,  (as  it  is  said,) 
commanding  the  wife  to  be  subject  to  her  husband  in  all  things,  settles  the 
question.  The  wife  must  subject  herself  to  the  agonies  of  maternity  simply 
and  solely  because  Christ  tells  her  to  submit  to  her  husband,  as  unto  God. 
Man  cannot  commit  a  greater  crime  against  all  that  is  pure  and  just  than  to 
subject  a  woman  to  maternity  when  her  soul  loathes  it.  He  outrages  the 
most  holy  and  potent  function  of  human  nature.  He  can  perpetrate  no 
greater  crime  against  his  child  than  to  subject  its  ante-natal  development  to 
the  ever-present  and  ever-potent  action  of  a  heart  whose  every  throb  is  a 
protest  against  its  existence.  Through  his  agency,  the  spirit  of  murder  pre- 
sides over  its  ante-natal  education,  instead  of  an  intense,  concentrated  love. 
And  how  could  man  so  outrage  woman  in  any  other  way  ?  The  tenderest 
sympathies  of  her  nature,  her  love,  and  all  that  makes  her  physically  and 
spiritually  a  woman,  and  qualifies  her  to  be  the  mother  of  the  race,  and  the 
great  arbiter  of  its  destiny ;  these  are  all  ignored,  scorned,  that  man,  in  or 
out  of  legal  bonds,  may  strengthen  and  gratify  his  sensualism.  But  all 
these  outrages  against  the  mother,  the  child,  and  humanity,  man  may  perpe- 
trate, because,  it  is  said,  Christ,  in  Paul,  in  Moses,  or  in  somebody,  says  — 
"  Wives,  be  subject  to  your  husbands  in  all  things,"  and  "  be  fruitful  and 
multiply." 

Though  the  consciousness  of  every  man  assures  him  that  man  was 
"created  for  woman,"  as  well  as  woman  for  man  —  that  man,  as  the  highest 
manifestation  of  the  masculine  element  of  divinity,  the  God-ma?*  has  no 
significance  nor  mission  to  man,  and  that,  as  man,  he  exists  solely  to  meet  a 
want  in  woman,  and  is,  in  turn,  a  helpless  dependent  on  her  as  the  embodi- 
ment of  the  God-tvoman, —  yet  all  these  facts  of  life  must  be  set  at  nought, 
and  our  souls  must  be  taught  to  bow  to  the  authority  of  Christ  in  Paul,  say- 
ing, "  Woman  was  created  for  man,  and  not  man  for  woman,  and  that  woman 
must  submit  to  man  as  unto  God." 

President !  You  have  been  a  Methodist  minister,  I  a  Presbyterian.  Do 
you  call  to  mind  how  we  used  to  urge  men  to  love  Christ  more  than  all 
things  else ;  and  to  regulate  their  thoughts,  their  plans,  and  actions  of  life 
with  reference  to  Christ,  rather  than  to  any  other  object  ?  How  we  used 
to  urge  on  men  the  duty  to  forsake  all  and  follow  Christ,  and  in  affection, 
thought,  and  aim,  hold  father  and  mother,  brother  and  sister,  wife  and  child, 
second  in  power  and  influence  to  Christ?  Sir,  do  you  remember  how,  in 
accordance  with  such  teachings,  men  used  to  go  on  their  knees  before  Christ, 
as  they  received  him,  and  solemnly  and  earnestly,  and  it  may  be  with  tears, 
assure  him  that  they  loved  him,  thought  of  him,  and  acted  with  reference  to 
his  comfort  and  glory  more  than  to  wife  and  children  ?  What  do  you  think 
of  such  teachings  now,  on  a  more  correct  and  intimate  acquaintance  with 
the  facts  of  conjugal  and  parental  relations?  Why,  sir,  there  is  not  a  man, 
there  never  was  one,  holding  the  true  and  natural  relation  of  a  husband  and 
a  father,  who  ever  did  or  can  think,  feel,  and  act  more  with  reference  to  the 
interests  and  glory  of  Christ  than  to  the  interest  and  glory  of  his  wife  and 
child.  There  is  not  a  man  in  this  audience,  nor  in  Vermont,  in  such  rela- 
tions, whose  consciousness  does  not  tell  him  this  is  true.  Is  there  a  man  in 
this  tent,  who  is  a  husband,  made  such,  not  by  a  priest,  but  by  that  love 


Z<5  THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

which  is  of  God,  and  "  which  is  God,"  who  does  not  know  that  he  does  not 
and  cannot  feel,  think,  and  act  more  with  reference  to  Christ  than  to  his 
wife  ?  If  he  would  allow  himself  to  think  at  all,  there  is  not  a  man  among 
you,  however  you  pretend  to  love  Christ,  who  does  not  know  that  he  loves 
his  wife  a  thousand  times  more  than  he  loves  Christ,  and  that  this  conjugal 
love  has  a  thousand  times  more  power  to  regulate  his  plans  and  actions  than 
that  Christian  love.  The  husband  who  is  made  such  by  love  knows  he 
has  a  thousand  thoughts  about  his  wife  and  her  happiness  and  glory,  where 
he  has  one  about  Christ  and  his  glory.  He  knows  that  his  wife  is  his  saviour 
and  the  arbiter  of  his  eternal  destiny  in  a  higher  and  more  potential  sense 
than  Christ  is.  He  sees  and  worships  God  in  his  wife,  with  a  more  concen- 
trated and  intense  devotion  than  God  in  Christ.  His  wife,  ever-living  and 
ever-present  in  the  depths  of  his  soul,  is  a  far  purer,  nobler,  and  more  attrac- 
tive incarnation  of  God  than  Christ  is.  Why,  then,  pretend  otherwise? 
Why  do  ministers  and  churches  so  convStantly  and  perseveringly  perpetrate 
the  falsehood  of  pointing  the  world  to  God  in  Christ  and  to  Calvary  for 
salvation  ?  Why  not  point  man  to  his  wife,  and  woman  to  her  husband,  as 
the  only  "  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God  unto  salvation  "?  For  so 
they  are  each  to  the  other,  all  of  them  being  witness.  The  true  husband, 
made  such  by  love,  not  by  law,  by  lust,  or  by  convenience,  has  committed 
the  destiny  of  his  body  and  soul  to  the  keeping  of  his  wife ;  he  has  put  the 
sceptre  of  dominion  over  his  inner  and  outer  life  into  her  hands ;  and  if 
Christ  could  not  consent  to  dwell  in  his  heart,  in  a  secondary  capacity,  he 
would  bid  him  depart. 

So  would  the  father  and  mother  say  of  their  child.  No  authority  in  the 
universe,  were  I  a  father,  could  make  me  feel,  think,  and  act  more  to  the 
interests  and  glory  of  Christ  than  of  my  child.  My  own  soul  would 
instantly  trample  on  all  such  authority.  My  child  holds  a  higher  and  more 
exalted  place  in  my  heart  than  Christ.  I  could  not  love  Christ,  if  I  tried, 
more  than  my  child ;  I  would  not  try,  if  I  could.  I  would  say  to  Christ  — 
to  that  man  called  Jesus,  who  was  murdered  on  Calvary — "My  child  holds 
a  higher  and  more  potent  dominion  over  my  heart  and  life  than  you  do,  and 
if  you  are  not  willing  to  dwell  there  and  allow  the  child  the  supremacy,  you 
can  have  leave  of  absence,  and  I  am  wnlling  to  meet  the  result.  The  child 
of  my  soul  and  body  is  of  more  importance  to  my  present  and  eternal  des- 
tiny than  you  are." 

Such  are  the  teachings  of  human  nature  ;  and  though  your  great  rever- 
ence for  old  forms  of  expression,  and  old  dogmas  touching  Christ,  as  a 
Saviour,  may  be  greatly  shocked,  yet  the  heart  of  every  triie  husband  and 
wife,  and  of  every  father  and  mother,  placed  in  those  relations  by  a  true, 
exclusive,  holy,  conjugal,  and  parental  love,  echoes  the  truth  of  what  I  say. 
You  see  and  worship  God  in  these  relations  with  a  holier  devotion  than  in 
Christ  and  Calvary.  God  speaks  to  you,  in  the  sweet  tones  and  words  of 
your  wife  and  child,  with  an  authority  more  absolute  than  in  the  words  that 
fell  from  the  lips  of  Christ.  Did  he  speak  with  authority  ?  But  not  with 
an  authority  so  tender,  so  thrilling,  so  imperative  as  that  with  which  the 
wife  and  child  speak.  They  say  "^  (Christ)  spake  as  never  man  spake." 
It  may  be — but  he  did  not  speak,  and  could  not,  as  a  woman,  as  a  wife  and 
mother,  can  speak  to  the  husband  and  father,  and  to  the  child.  God,  in 
flowers  and  stars,  in  earthquakes  and  in  silence,  speaks  with  power  to  the 
heart  of  man,  but  not  with  that  energy  and  authority  with  which  he  speaks 
to  man  through  his  wife,  his  child,  and  the  mother  of  his  child. 

Such  is  the  deep,  abiding  conviction  of  my  soul.     In  this,  the  soul  of 


^criyz^  ^'    -'/ 


^^      ^^"^^  AUTHORITY 


r5.    CONVICTION. 


every  man  and  woman  in  this  audience  affirms  the  same.  Your  soul,  Mr. 
President,  affirms  its  truth.  Tell  me,  then,  why  consider  me  a  scoffisr  and  a 
blasphemer  for  uttering  what,  in  your  souls,  you  feel  to  be  true?  Simply  be- 
cause your  reverence  for  the  authority  of  Christ  is  greater  than  for  the  con- 
viction of  your  own  souls.  Authority  has  throttled  conviction,  and  the  God 
that  speaks  in  your  love  for  wife  and  child  is  dethroned,  cast  out  and  de- 
spised, to  give  place  to  the  God  that  spake  in  Jesus.  The  God  of  nature, 
the  God  of  love,  who  is  revealed  in  all  the  ties  that  so  lovingly  and  potently 
bind  men  and  women  together  in  all  true  relations,  never  did  and  never  can 
ask  us  to  sacrifice  wife  or  husband,  son  or  daughter,  father  or  mother,  or  any 
true  relation  to  him;  but  God,  as  revealed  through  Moses,  Christ,  and 
Mahomet,  may.  But  be  ever  true  to  the  holy  love  and  sympathy,  the  voice 
of  God,  in  your  own  soul,  without  regard  to  the  God  and  teachings  of  Jesus, 
or  of  any  other  man. 

Mr.  President,  the  dispensation  of  arbitrary  power  and  authority  in 
church  and  state,  and  the  God  that  speaks  in  Jesus,  as  an  authoritative  rule 
of  faith  and  practice,  must  go  down  before  the  quickening,  ever-potential 
energy  of  individual  conviction.  Natural  affection,  sympathy,  intuition, 
reason  and  conscience  will  not  always  be  sacrificed  to  the  behests  of  arbi- 
trary autliority. 

One  word  more,  and  I  have  done.  The  immediate  abolition  of  all  external 
authority  as  a  law  of  life,  and  of  all  the  systems  of  violence  and  blood,  of 
war,  slavery,  licentiousness,  of  theft,  robbery,  murder,  and  piracy,  that  are 
based  upon  it,  is  demanded  by  justice  and  humanity.  I  affirm  that  every 
thief  and  robber,  every  murderer  and  pirate,  every  warrior  and  slaveholder, 
acts  on  the  principle  that  each  and  every  man,  at  his  own  discretion,  may 
substitute  external  authority  for  internal  conviction,  as  a  law  of  life  to  each 
and  every  man.  Again,  I  say,  give  us  the  means  now  expended  to  estab- 
lish the  dominion  of  external  authority,  to  create  and  sustain  the  empire  of 
internal  conviction,  to  teach  each  soul  to  govern  itself  by  just  and  natural 
laws,  and  we  could  soon  be  able  to  say  to  the  warring  elements  of  human 
life,  "  Peace,  be  still  !"  and  there  would  be  a  great  calm. 

William  Goodell,  of  New  York,  replied  briefly  to  Mr.  Wright,  and 
put  the  following  case  in  illustration :  Suppose  a  slaveholder  should  come 
into  this  audience  and  take  one  of  these  little  children, —  black  or  white,  no 
matter  what  the  color,  —  and  claim  him  as  a  slave,  and  undertake  to  drag 
him  away  from  here ;  and  suppose  he  should  stand  up  and  plant  himself  on 
the  ground  that  he  knew  no  rule  but  his  own  will,  which  God  has  revealed 
in  him,  and  that  he  believed  in  the  divinity  of  slavery, —  I  want  to  know  if 
this  audience  would  let  that  man  take  the  child  and  carry  him  away  into 
bondage?  [Voices — "No."]  1  want  to  know  if  this  audience  would  not 
rise  up  en  tnasse  and  assert  their  authority  over  the  man?  [Voices  — 
*'Yes."]  Then  we  have  the  principle  acknowledged  of  the  authority  of  man 
over  man, — to  this  extent,  that  we  shall  see  to  it  that  every  man  is  pro- 
tected by  law. 

The  Business  Committee  then  submitted  the  following  resolution :  — 

Resolved,  That  the  present  Spiritual  Movement  has  done  much  to  arrest  the  tide  of 
popular  skepticism,  and  the  material  and  sensuous  tendencies  of  the  age,  by  giving  the 
natural  evidence  of  our  immortality  a  clearer  expression  and  a  more  demonstrative  form. 

A  song  was  then  sung  by  the  "  Harmonial  Club,"  and  Mr.  S.  B.  Brit- 
tan,  of  New  York,  was  introduced,  who  addressed  the  Convention  as 
follows :  — 


24  THE    RUTLAND     CONVENTION. 

ADDRESS  OF  S.  B.  BRITTAN,  OF  NEW  YORK. 


Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: — I  am  called  to  address  this  Con- 
vention on  the  subject  embodied  in  the  resolution  which  I  hold  in  my  hand, 
and  which  I  will  repeat,  as  some  may  not  have  heard  distinctly,  or  fully 
apprehended  its  import,  on  the  former  reading  :  — 

"  Resolved,  That  the  present  Spiritual  Movement  has  done  much  to  arrest  the  tide  of 
popular  skepticism,  and  the  material  and  sensuous  tendencies  of  the  age,  by  giving  the 
natural  evidences  of  our  immortality  a  clearer  expression  and  a  more  demonstrative  form." 

You  will  perceive  that  the  subject  comprehended  in  the  resolution  is, 
The  Natural  Evidences  of  Immortality.  Nothing,  I  apprehend,  can 
be  more  evident  to  the  careful  observer  than  the  fact,  that  there  has  been 
of  late  a  growing  tendency  to  unbelief  and  general  skepticism  in  reference 
to  the  great  questions  concerning  the  Immortal  Life  and  Spiritual  World. 
The  question  of  an  ancient  writer,  ''''  If  a  man  die,  shall  he  live  again '^" 
comes  up  from  the  troubled  depths  of  the  human  mind  and  heart  in  every 
age  and  country ;  and  thousands,  sitting  in  the  obscure  light  of  a  doubting 
faith,  have  been  unable  to  arrive  at  any  satisfactory  conclusion.  Millions 
were  swept  away  every  year,  like  the  seared  leaves  of  autumn,  into  the 
grave,  while  man  never  ceased  to  press  this  great  question.  But  still,  in  the 
judgment  of  the  world,  the  occasional  responses  were  vaguely  expressed  and 
of  uncertain  import.  The  trembling  mortal  called  on  all  things,  visible  and 
invisible,  for  an  answer ;  on  the  outward  elements  and  the  inward  powers 
of  the  world ;  on  the  laws  of  nature,  and  on  God,  for  a  demonstrative  and 
satisfactory  solution  of  the  great  problem  in  which  the  whole  humanity  is  so 
profoundly  interested.  But  up  to  the  commencement  of  the  modern  Spirit- 
ual Movement,  nothing  had  occurred  to  silence  the  doubts  of  men,  or  to  roll 
back  the  tide  of  popular  skepticism  that  threatened  to  swallow  up  the  com- 
mon faith  of  the  world. 

Thus  a  materialistic  philosophy,  closely  allied  to  sensuality,  invaded  all 
the  walks  of  life.  Its  representatives  sat  in  the  legislative  halls  of  the 
nation ;  they  occupied  the  seats  of  popular  learning  ;  they  held  the  keys  to 
the  temple  of  science ;  their  seal  was  on  the  current  literature  of  the  time ;  and 
this  Materialism,  with  all  its  repulsive  features  and  darkening  influences,  even 
revealed  its  presence  beneath  the  very  altar  of  the  Christian  sanctuary. 
But  since  1848,  the  manifestations  of  mysterious  intelligent  powers,  through 
the  elements  and  forms  of  the  material  world,  through  the  forces  and  facul- 
ties of  the  human  mind,  and  the  organs  and  functions  of  the  human  body, 
have  been  rapidly  increasing  in  force  and  frequency ;  and  these  phenomenal 
exhibitions  of  invisible  power  and  intelligence  have  arrested  the  tide  of  pop- 
ular skepticism,  and  contributed  to  fix  in  the  public  mind  a  deeper  convic- 
tion that  the  immortal  world  and  life  are  sublime  and  sacred  realities  ;  also, 
that  the  fundamental  principles  and  legitimate  claims  of  Revelation  and 
Miracles,  so  called,  (whether  properly  or  improperly  is  not  the  question  I 
now  propose  to  discuss,)  are  compatible  with  the  essential  principles  of 
being,  and  in  harmony  with  the  eternal  laws  of  matter  and  mind.  No  one 
can  reasonably  dispute  the  fact,  that  the  Spiritual  Movement  has  presented 
the  natural  illustrations  and  proofs  of  immortality,  and  of  our  intimate  rela- 
tions to  the  Spirit  World,  in  a  much  stronger  light,  and  in  a  more  lucid, 
expressive,  and  irresistible  form.  It  is  to  a  consideration  of  some  of  these 
natural  evidences  of  the  unbroken  continuity  of  individual  human  existence, 
that  I  now  invite  your  attention. 


THE   NATURAL   EVIDENCES    OF  IMMORTALITY.  25 

It  appears  to  me  that  the  essential  laws  of  mind  and  matter  afford  some 
veiy  clear  and  positive  evidences  of  this  truth.  The  material  philosopher 
insists  that  matter  is  indestructible  ;  but  that  all  organic  forms  go  back  and 
are  resolved  into  the  simple  elements  that  compose  them.  Notwithstanding 
the  frequent  changes  which  matter  undergoes  in  the  processes  of  the  natural 
world,  not  a  single  atom  is  destroyed  or  annihilated ;  while  all  the  ordeals 
that  science  has  been  able  to  institute  are  equally  powerless  to  destroy  a 
single  ultimate  particle  in  the  Universe.  All  this  I  accept;  and  from  the 
indestructibility  of  matter,  and  the  broad  basis  of  its  undeviating  laws,  —  as 
manifested  through  the  ascending  scale  of  perpetual  motion,  organic  forma- 
tion, and  conscious  life, — I  shall  reason  for  the  inherent  spirituality  and  the 
immortal  identity  of  every  rational  being. 

The  most  minute  investigation  will  not  enable  the  materialist  to  discover 
any  form  or  element  of  the  material  world  that  is  not  subject  to  law.  Every 
atom  that  floats  in  the  atmosphere  you  breathe,  not  less  than  the  great  orbs 
that  wheel  their  eternal  cycles  in  the  immeasurable  fields  of  space,  is  gov- 
erned by  law.  The  laws  of  motion,  organization  and  life  are  universal 
laws,  and  it  is  impossible  to  find  a  single  ultimate  particle  that  is  left  to 
lawless  disobedience.  Now,  law  is  but  the  revelation  of  the  plan  and  the 
process  whereby  the  Law  Giver — the  Supreme  Intelligence  —  works  in  the 
accomplishment  of  his  designs.  All  the  laws  of  the  Universe  reveal  the 
characteristics  of  Intelligence.  The  natural  theologian  reasons  from  these 
premises  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Original  Cause  of  all  things  possesses 
those  attributes  of  mind  which  are  indispensable  to  the  existence  of  an 
intelligent  purpose,  and  without  which  there  could  be  no  adaptation  of 
means  to  ends.  Every  particle  of  matter  in  existence  is  thus  perceived  to 
be  a  tangible  revelation  of  law.  Every  organic  form  is  a  proclamation  from 
the  invisible  powers  of  life ;  and  every  conscious  soul  is  the  ineffaceable 
image  of  the  Infinite  mind.  If  the  elements  be  indestructible,  so  are  the 
laws  that  govern  them,  and  we  are  irresistibly  led  to  the  conclusion,  that 
not  only  the  principles  of  motion  and  life,  but  the  intelligence  revealed  in 
and  through  matter,  is  as  essentially  immmortal  as  the  external  elements 
are  indestructible. 

It  is  well  known  that  matter  exists  in  various  degrees  of  attenuation, 
some  of  the  conditions  and  forms  of  the  material  elements  being  tangible  to 
the  outward  senses,  whilst  others  wholly  escape  the  observation  of  the 
senses  in  their  external  exercise.  For  example,  by  the  powers  of  ordinary 
sensation,  you  perceive  the  existence  of  the  rocks,  the  earths,  and  the  waters ; 
but  you  do  not  see  the  air,  and  the  still  more  sublimated  essences  that  exist 
and  pervade  all  grosser  forms  and  substances.  On  the  contrary,  the  im- 
ponderables are  conditions  of  matter  in  which  the  elements  are  so  exceed- 
ingly sublimated  that  though,  perchance,  everywhere  and  all-pervading, 
they  are  ever  beyond  this  sphere  of  sensuous  observation.  Though  invisi- 
ble to  mortal  eyes,  we  acknowledge  their  existence,  because  we  have  wit- 
nessed the  startling  revelations  of  their  presence  and  their  power. 

Now,  if  the  elements  of  matter  exis^  in  these  etherial  states  and  conditions, 
I  apprehend  that  there  must  also  be  organized  existences,  forever  imper- 
ceptible by  the  corporeal  instruments  of  sensation,  on  account  of  the  extreme 
subtlety  of  the  elements  that  enter  into  the  composition  and  structure  of 
their  organic  forms.  Indeed,  you  all  believe  in  one  great  realm  of  organ- 
ized forms  of  life,  all  of  which  are  beyond  the  reach  of  your  physical  pow- 
ers of  perception.  You  know  that  all  matter  and  space  swarm  with 
innumerable  living  creatures,  accompanied  by  the  thrilling  revelations  of 


26  THE    EUTLAND     CONVENTION. 

pleasure  and  pain.  By  the  construction  and  application  of  a  delicate  optical 
instrument,  science  has  revealed  the  minute  creation.  In  the  light  of  this 
discovery,  each  separate  atom  becomes  a  walled  city,  while  within  the  cir- 
cumference of  a  drop  of  water  an  empire  of  being  is  mysteriously  revealed. 
Thus  by  our  researches  into  nature,  with  the  aid  of  appropriate  instruments, 
we  have  not  only  become  acquainted  with  the  etherial  elements,  and,  to  some 
extent,  with  the  invisible  forces  of  the  Universe,  but  we  have  discovered  a 
vast  realm  of  organized  being,  and  countless  myriads  of  living  creatures, 
whose  existence  would  have  been  disputed  to-day,  had  not  Science  stooped 
from  her  throne  of  stars  to  open  the  portals  of  the  unknown  world. 

Now,  if  I  do  not  wholly  misinterpret  the  laws  and  analogies  of  nature, 
there  must  be  a  superior  state  of  being,  and  forms  of  organic  existence 
fitted  to  perform  the  functions  of  a  higher  life,  answering  in  some  sense  to 
our  conceptions  of  the  Spirit  World  and  its  inhabitants.  Without  such  a 
realm  and  such  beings,  there  would  seem  to  be  an  immense  blank  in  the 
work  of  creation,  which  is  incompatible  with  the  laws  of  the  Universe.  If 
the  more  ethereal  substances  are  subject  to  the  law  of  organic  formation, 
the  conclusion  that  there  must  be  a  Spirit  World  is  both  natural  and  inevita- 
ble. Now,  how  does  this  law  apply,  respectively,  to  the  denser  and  more 
rarified  forms  or  states  of  matter?  Is  it  only  capable  of  taking  hold  of  the 
grosser  ones,  or  do  the  more  sublimated  elements  first  yield  to  its  action  ? 
The  truth  is,  it  is  impossible  for  the  densest  forms  of  matter  at  once  to  as- 
sume organic  forms  and  relations.  If  you  deposit  a  seed  in  an  iron  vase, 
or  on  the  smooth  surface  of  a  rock,  it  will  never  germinate.  Matter  in  these 
dense  forms  and  inferior  conditions  cannot  he  taken  up  and  assimilated.  It 
is  only  when  the  elements  exist  in  their  more  attenuated  states,  that  the  ul- 
timate particles  are  capable  of  changing  their  positions  and  relations  with 
the  ease  and  rapidity  which  are  indispensable  in  the  process  of  organic  for- 
mation. It  is  well  known  that  the  growth  of  vegetation  —  all  the  freshness 
of  Spring,  the  glory  of  the  Summer  time,  and  the  fruitfulness  of  Autumn  — 
depends  mainly  on  the  assimilation  of  material  elements  taken  up  from  the 
atmosphere,  and  which,  in  their  inorganic  states,  are  chiefly  intangible. 
From  these  facts  and  considerations,  it  would  seem  that  the  tendency  of 
matter  to  enter  into  organic  forms  increases  in  proportion  to  the  degree  of 
material  sublimation,  and  hence  that  the  most  ethereal  or  spiritual  substances 
are  most  likely  to  be  organized.  Thus  the  laws  of  matter  and  the  analogies 
of  nature  appear  to  warrant  the  conclusion  that  there  may  be,  and,  indeed, 
must  be,  —  to  complete  the  economy  of  universal  existence,  —  an  invisible 
and  Spiritual  World,  inhabited  by  beings  whose  forms  are  imperishable,  and 
whose  ever-unfolding  faculties  may  be  fitted  to  perform  the  superior  func- 
tions of  an  immortal  life.  To  this  end  do  the  lines  of  universal  analogy 
lead  us.  The  eternal  principles  of  Nature,  as  revealed  in  all  forms,  inhere 
in  the  elements,  not  one  of  which  is  perceived  to  exist  without  law.  The 
power  of  motion  belongs  to  every  world  and  to  every  atom.  Moreover,  a 
great,  intelligent  hfe-spirit  pervades  all  the  elements  of  all  worlds,  and  if 
these  elements  are  essentially  indestructible,  that  spirit  must  be  intrinsically 
immortal,  and  can  never  die. 

"  Well,"  says  the  materialist,  "  it  may  be  conceded  that  the  laws  of  mat- 
ter and  the  life-principle  in  the  elements  are  as  indestructible  as  the  elements 
themselves  ;  but  this  does  not  prove  that  man  is  immortal  in  his  individual- 
ity. The  laws  of  matter,  as  revealed  in  the  tree,  may  be  supposed  to  eter- 
nally exist ;  but  we  know  that  the  same  trees  are  not  indestructible  —  we 
know  that  they  perish.    As  distinct  forms,  they  are  annihilated  forever,  and 


THE  NATURAL   EVIDENCES    OP  IMMORTALITY.  27 

it  yet  remains  for  the  speaker  to  prove  that  men  survive  the  destruction  of 
their  bodies."  That  is  true  ;  and  on  this  point,  we  may  find  conclusive  evi- 
dence in  the  laws  of  human  nature  and  the  universal  consciousness  of  the 
race.  It  is  a  well-ascertained  fact,  that  the  elements  which  compose  the 
human  body  are  being  perpetually  thrown  off;  and  so  rapid  is  this  process 
of  transformation,  that  the  whole  body  is  changed  once  in  some  seven  years. 
Each  physical  form  is  thus  disorganized  and  effectually  destroyed.  A  new 
body  is  formed  by  the  assimilation  of  other  elements  —  the  new  body  being 
organized  under  the  action  of  the  same  indwelling  spirit  that  fashioned  the 
old  one.  But  not  a  single  Man  is  ever  annihilated  by  this  process.  You 
are,  all  of  you,,  the  same  individuals  through  every  period  of  life.  Those 
who  have  lived  fifty  years  feel  sure  that  they  are  the  same  men  and  women 
they  were  thirty  years  ago.  Not  one  of  you  could  be  convinced,  by 
any  species  of  logic,  that  the  lines  of  individuality  have  been  obliterated  or 
broken  by  time,  and  the  process  of  material  transformation.  This  indicates 
in  a  most  significant  manner,  that  the  law  which  individualizes  a  man,  does 
not  attach  alone  or  most  essentially  to  his  body.  If  it  did,  his  identity  would 
be  lost  as  often  as  his  body  changed.  If  man  were  but  a  mere  material 
organism,  on  which  the  elements  and  forces  of  Nature  were  left  to  improvise 
the  pleasant  harmonies  and  the  mournful  discords  of  this  present  life,  not  one 
of  you  would  ever  live  to  he  over  seven  years  old.  This  is  a  legitimate  conclu- 
sion from  the  monstrous  assumption,  that  our  individual  life  is  but.  the  play 
of  subtile  material  forces  on  the  instruments  of  motion  and  sensation.  If 
the  corporeal  instrument  were  the  real  man,  it  would  follow  of  necessity  that 
the  sphere  of  consciousness,  the  faculty  of  memory,  and  every  thing  that  is 
peculiar  to  men  as  individuals,  would  be  blotted  out  of  existence  as  rapidly, 
as  frequently,  and  as  effectually,  as  the  process  of  material  transformation  is 
accomplished.  But  you  perceive  that  it  is  not  so.  The  man  who  has  lived 
sixty  years,  has,  by  a  natural  process,  been  corporally  destroyed  ten  times  ! 
yet  he  is  still  the  same  man,  and  has  never  once  lost  his  identity.  From 
this  significant  fact  we  infer,  that  there  is  an  internal  or  spiritual  m«w,  which 
is  the  ultimate  receptacle  of  all  the  impressions  made  on  the  external  organs 
and  faculties  ;  so  that  our  humanity  consists  in  something  else,  and  something 
more,  than  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  more  or  less,  of  common  earth. 
You  cannot  say,  then,  that  A  man  exists  when  there  is  only  a  corpse  in  the 
way.  That  is  not  a  man.  It  has  none  of  the  faculties,  and  can  manifest 
none  of  the  functions  of  manhood.  The  subtile  element  and  the  chemical 
constituents  may  be  all  there ;  the  organs  may  be  in  perfect  order  and  sus- 
tain their  proper  relations  ;  but  the  man  is  not  there.  The  house  is  tenantless, 
and  t!ie  vital  fires  are  extinguished.  There  is  no  glow  on  the  cheek  ;  there 
is  no  speculation  in  the  eye ;  there  is  no  power  of  vital  or  voluntary  motion ; 
there  is  no  capacity  for  sensation  or  for  thought.  These  faculties  and  func- 
tions belong  to  man ;  they  go  with  him,  and  will  not  remain  in  the  fallen 
temple  with  the  broken  and  voiceless  symbols  of  his  departed  life. 

But  it  is  not  alone  by  this  gradual  process  that  the  body  is  destroyed 
without  invading  the  sphere  of  individual  consciousness,  and  the  powers  of 
our  inmost  being.  If  you  remove  a  member  of  the  body  entire,  it  will  not 
circumscribe  the  sphere  of  consciousness  in  the  smallest  degree.  I  have 
conversed  with  persons  who  have  lost  their  limbs  on  the  battle-field,  or  by 
accident,  and  they  have  assured  me  that  cannon-balls  and  the  surgeon's 
knife  are  powerless  to  circumscribe  the  sphere  of  consciousness,  and  that  not 
even  sensation  is  suspended  when  the  sensor  nerves  are  destroyed.  Some 
time  since,  a  gentleman  who  had  lost  one  of  his  lower  limbs,  assured  me 


28  THE    RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

that,  the  next  morning  after  it  was  amputated,  he  attempted  to  leap  from  the 
bed  on  to  the  floor.  Neither  his  senses  nor  his  consciousness  gave  him  any- 
warning,  and  it  was  not  until  he  had  made  an  abortive  effort,  that  memory 
came  to  his  aid  and  reminded  him  of  his  misfortune.  Thus,  if  the  vital 
forces  could  sustain  so  many  shocks,  you  might  remove  every  limb  from  the 
body,  and  still  the  man  would  have  the  same  abiding  sense  of  completeness  ; 
he  would  feel  a  positive  consciousness  that  nothing  was  wanting  to  secure 
the  perfection  of  his  being.  Thus  it  is  rendered  obvious  that  our  individu' 
ality  inheres  in  the  spirit,  and  that  our  identity  cannot  be  destroyed  or  im- 
paired by  the  disasters  that  overtake  the  body. 

But  there  are  other  natural  evidences  of  our  spiritual  nature  and  immor- 
tality. The  fact  that  men  often  exercise  the  powers  of  sensation  without  the 
use  of  their  appropriate  physical  organs,  is,  I  conceive,  a  clear  and  indisput- 
able proof  of  the  spiritual  nature  of  man.  No  one,  who  is  well  informed, 
will  any  longer  venture  to  deny  that  Humanity  has  powers  whereby  some 
men  enter  into  spiritual  rapport  with  the  interior  principles,  laws,  and  forces 
of  Nature,  and  with  the  Spiritual  Universe.  There  are  many  persons  now 
living,  who  have  power  to  look  through  solid  walls,  and  who  can  see  in 
darkness  as  well  as  in  light.  It  is  only  necessary  to  secure  a  proper  union  of 
certain  physiological  and  physchological  conditions,  to  develop  these  powers 
in  any  well  organized  human  being.  Indeed,  every  one  who  has  had  a  vivid 
dream  —  has  had  his  hand  clasped  in  that  of  a  friend  —  has  heard  a  familiar 
voice,  or  looked  out  upon  a  landscape,  when  the  external  organs  were  locked 
up  as  in  a  profound  slumber  —  has  had  a  revelation  of  the  fact,  that  men 
may  see,  hear,  feel  and  exercise  all  the  powers  of  sensation  without  employ- 
ing the  external  organs  of  sensation.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  the  powers 
of  feeling,  thought,  and  action,  do  not  necessarily  depend  on  the  body.  If, 
then,  you  were  to  strike  this  body  out  of  existence  —  annihilate  it  —  scatter 
the  elements  to  the  four  winds  —  the  spirit,  the  man,  would  still  remain  in 
the  full  possession  and  free  exercise  of  all  its  immortal  faculties. 

There  are  reasons  for  presuming  that  man  is  immortal  in  his  individuality 
that  do  not  apply  to  the  animal  creation.  I  regard  all  the  inferior  forms 
that  people  the  earth  as  only  parts  of  the  one  great  process  whereby  matter 
is  so  sublimated  and  spiritualized  that  it  may  enter  into  imperishable  forms. 
Thus  all  the  parts  and  processes  of  the  subordinate  creation  are  perceived 
to  be  but  so  many  links  in  the  great  chain  of  progressive  development, 
whereby  the  human  spirit  is  made  immortal.  We  perceive  that  the  different 
species  of  animals  soon  develop  and  exercise  all  the  faculties  they  possess, 
and  to  the  highest  degree  of  which  they  are  capable.  They  reach  an  ulti- 
mate condition  beyond  which  there  is  no  further  advancement.  This  is 
true  of  all  corporeal  forms ;  but  it  is  not  true  of  the  human  mind.  That 
never  reaches  an  ultimate  condition.  Its  faculties  are  never  fully  developed 
in  time.  The  highest  human  perfection  is  never  realized  in  this  world,  and 
we  can  only  conceive  of  it  as  among  the  possibilities  of  the  distant  future. 
This  consideration,  also,  appears  to  justify  the  conclusion  that  there  must  be 
a  continuous  unfolding  of  the  infinite  powers  and  capacities  of  human 
nature  in  the  great  hereafter. 

At  no  previous  period  in  the  history  of  the  world  wa?  materialism  so 
much  troubled  to  defend  its  claims  on  rational  grounds.  The  evidences  of 
our  immortality  were  never  so  conspicuous  before,  and  the  skeptical  philos- 
ophers of  the  world  stand  aghast  and  are  silent.  When  such  men  as 
Robert  Owen  and  Dr.  Hare,  and  many  others  whose  minds  are  cast  in 
similar  moulds,  who  have  resisted  all  the  efforts  of  the  Church  for  three- 


THE   NATURAL   EVIDENCES   OP  IMMORTALITY.  29 

quarters  of  a  century,  suddenly  give  way  before  the  living  and  positive 
demonstrations  of  the  spiritual  nature  and  the  immortal  life,  how  shall  the 
multitude  of  inferior  minds  stand  up  in  defence  of  the  old  Materialism. 
They  were  firm  in  their  unbelief,  and  had  derived  additional  strength  — 
were  rendered  unyielding  and  inflexible  in  their  skepticism  —  by  their 
practical  and  scientific  training.  When  such  men  are  forced  to  accept  the 
truth  they  so  stoutly  denied,  it  is  meet  that  common  skeptics  should  investi- 
gate the  claims  of  the  subject  or  be  silent. 

I  am  here  to-day  to  speak  of  the  spiritual  nature  and  the  progressive 
immortal  life  of  humanity.  If  the  claims  of  the  subject  are  not  founded  in 
truth,  all  our  reforms  are  comparatively  insignificant  in  their  objects  and 
ephemeral  in  their  effects.  I  stand  on  this  great  globe,  which,  in  the  light 
of  the  material  philosophy,  (if  I  may  associate  the  idea  of  light  with  such  a 
system,)  contains  in  its  ample  bosom  all  that  remains  of  the  departed  nations. 
But  I  stand  here  to  proclaim  the  resurrection  of  "  every  man  in  his  own 
order."  I  do  not  believe  that  one  has  perished.  The  old  Materialism 
would  make  the  earth  itself  one  vast  tomb,  and  the  visible  heavens  one 
stupendous  monument  reared  above  the  mouldering  remains  of  innumerable 
generations.  If  beyond  the  present  world  and  the  living  generation  there 
is  nothing  left  but  the  ashes  of  all  the  past,  we  are  all  but  creatures  of  a  day, 
whose  aimless  life  is  terminated  by  an  unbroken  and  dreamless  sleep.  If 
we  are  destined  to  wake  no  more,  the  oracles  of  Nature  are  ministers  to  lead 
the  mind  astray ;  our  aspirations  are  falsehoods  ;  hope  is  a  cunning  and 
cruel  deceiver,  and  the  Universe  a  magnificent  failure,  which  suggests  the 
most  mournful  contemplations. 

But  it  is  not  so.  This  is  not  all  nor  the  end  of  life.  The  essential  laws 
and  vital  principles,  manifested  in  outward  forms,  are  the  revelations  of' 
God  in  all  things.  Death  is  only  an  outward  and  local  phenomenon 
that  accompanies  the  development  of  higher  powers  of  being ;  while  life  — 
eternal  life  —  is  the  unchanging  law  of  the  whole  Universe.  Man  stands 
on  the  confines  of  two  worlds,  the  elements  and  attributes  of  which  meet, 
unite,  and  centre,  in  his  constitution.  He  may  therefore  be  gratified  to  learn 
something  of  what  is  beyond  and  above  the  sphere  of  his  present  existence. 
While  it  is  his  prerogative  to  sway  a  sceptre  over  the  earth,  he  follows  the 
highest  law  of  his  nature  in  aspiring  to  heaven.  Thus  we  perceive  that 
from  man,  the  chain  of  being  extends  downward  and  outward  to  the  unor- 
ganized elements,  and  upward  and  inward  to  the  attributes  of  Deity.  Such 
is  man.  The  physical  and  Spiritual  Worlds  are  represented  in  him,  and  the 
presence  of  the  Supreme  Divinity  consecrates  these  temples  of  clay.  The 
Russian  poet  has  expressed  the  idea  in  more  beautiful  and  forcible  lan- 
guage : 

"  We  hold  a  middle  rank  'twixt  heaven  and  earth ; 

On  the  last  verge  of  mortal  being  stand, 
Close  to  the  realms  whore  angels  have  their  birth, 

Just  on  the  boundaries  of  the  spirit  land. 
I  can  control  the  lightning,  and  am  dust ; 

A  monarch  and  a  slave,  a  worm  —  a  God.** 

Thus,  while  I  stand  on  the  graves  of  the  buried  nations,  I  am  authorized 
to  proclaim  the  resurrection  of  all  the  powers  of  life ;  and  while  I  behold 
the  image  of  God  in  every  one  of  you,  — 

"  I  feel  my  immortality  o'ersweep 

All  pains,  all  groans,  all  griefs,  all  fears,  and  peal 
Like  the  eternal  thunders  of  the  deep. 
Into  mine  ears,  this  truth  —  Thou  liv*8T  fobeveb.** 


80  THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

Mrs.  Ernestine  L.  Hose,  of  New  York.  Friends,  we  have  listened 
to  a  very  eloquent  discourse.  Beauty  in  language,  in  description,  and  in 
voice,  is  always  exceedingly  pleasant  to  the  hearer ;  but,  at  the  same  time, 
it  does  not  seem  to  me  to  be  enough.  The  last  speaker,  when  he  rose,  said 
that  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  bring  reasons  and  arguments  to  prove  the 
doctrines  of  Spiritualism.  To  do  so,  he  has  given  us  what  he  deems  all  the 
arguments  necessary.  Now,  it  is  usually  the  practice,  when  a  lawyer 
wants  to  present  arguments  to  prove  a  proposition,  for  him  to  retain  the 
strongest  until  the  last ;  the  heaviest  gun  is  usually  fired  at  the  close  ;  and 
as  I  have  only  ten  minutes  in  which  to  speak,  and  of  course  shall  not  be 
able  to  reply  to  the  whole  speech,  if  I  wished  to,  I  shall  have  to  let  all  his 
beautiful  and  flowery  images  pass  to  whence  they  came,  —  the  air,  —  and 
simply  take  up  one  or  two  of  the  arguments.  I  will  begin  with  the  last  one 
given,  as  the  strongest,  and  that  is  Robert  Owen.  I  never  hear  the  name 
of  Robert  Owen,  but  I  feel  rising  within  me  a  sentiment  amounting  almost 
to  reverence  for  that  noble  man.  I  have  had  the  unspeakable  pleasure  of 
being  intimately  acquainted  with  him  for  years,  and  on  matters  of  fact,  such  as 
can  be  demonstrated— on  any  point  concerning  the  general  intercourse  between 
man  and  man,  I  would  most  implicitly  take  his  word.  But  if  Robert  Owen 
should  tell  me  that  he  had  seen  a  mouse  draw  a  three-decker  through  the 
streets  of  New  York,  I  would  say,  "  I  cannot  believe  it."  "  But  am  I  not 
Robert  Owen  ? "  "  Why,  certainly ;  and  I  believe  that  you  believe  you 
have  seen  it ;  but  that  can  be  no  authority  for  me."     [Hear !   hear !  ] 

Again,  the  great  argument  produced  here  was  drawn  from  dreams.  In 
dreams,  we  shake  hands  with  a  friend,  we  reason,  we  argue,  we  feel,  we 
laugh,  we  cry,  —  therefore,  we  must  be  able  to  do  all  these  things  when  we 
have  changed  this  present  existence,  and  passed  from  the  stage  of  what  is 
called  life.  I  will  take  that  argument  up.  I  am,  unfortunately,  a  great 
dreamer,  —  I  wish  with  all  my  heart  I  was  not ;  for  while  I  dream,  I  do  not 
sleep ;  and  just  to  the  extent  that  I  dream,  I  do  not  sleep  ;  therefore,  that 
argument  is  no  illustration  of  immortality  at  all,  for  when  I  do  not  sleep,  I 
am  awake,  and  when  I  am  awake,  I  am  alive,  and  when  I  am  alive,  I  am 
not  dead.     [Laughter  and  applause.] 

Another  great  gun  was  fired  off,  —  and  that  is,  the  change  of  our  bodies. 
Every  seven  years,  you  have  been  told,  —  and  it  is  true,  —  the  particles  of 
matter  that  compose  our  bodies  are  changed.  But  how  ?  Do  we  lay  them 
off  once  in  seven  years,  as  we  lay  off  one  coat  and  put  on  another  ?  Oh, 
no !  We  have  on  a  coat  of  minute  particles  of  cloth,  and  just  as  one  parti- 
cle is  taken  out,  another  particle  is  set  in,  and  the  coat  remains  whole.  We 
do  not  change  every  seven  years  entirely ;  and  therefore  this  fact  cannot 
be  taken  as  proof  of  the  immortality  of  man,  or  rather,  as  proof  of  Spir- 
itualism. If  the  body  changed  at  once,  there  might  be  some  analogy,  though 
not  much  even  then.  But  it  does  not.  As  the  elements  pass  off,  their 
places  are  supplied  by  others,  and  the  moment  they  have  taken  their  places, 
they  assimilate  with  the  whole  being,  and  it  remains,  to  a  great  extent, 
the  same.  But,  in  reality,  it  is  not  the  same.  Man  is  not  the  same  when 
he  is  seven  years  old  as  he  was  the  first  hour  of  his  existence  ;  he  is  not  the 
same  the  last  seven  years  of  his  life  that  he  was  the  first.  The  last  speaker 
has  probably  believed  in  Spirituahsm  more  than  seven  years  ;  but  suppose 
I  take  him  back  seven  years,  and  then  ask  him  —  "  Are  you  the  same  to-day, 
when  you  believe  in  Spiritualism,  and  from  your  belief  in  your  feelings, 
and  from  your  belief  and  feelings  in  your  opinions,  and  from  your  behef 
and  feelings  and  opinions  in  your  actions,  that  you  were  seven  yeai's  ago, 


THE   NATURAL    EVIDENCES    OF  IMMORTALITY.  31 

when  you  utterly  disbelieved  it  ?  "  Why,  no  !  So  that  it  is  both  true  and 
not  true ;  we  are  the  same,  and  not  the  same.  But  in  either  case,  does  it 
prove  Spiritualism  ? 

But  let  me  ask  the  question  —  Suppose  that  all  we  have  heard  here  is 
perfectly  true,  is  it  necessary  for  us  to  know  it,  and  to  come  here  to  be  con- 
vinced of  it?  Millions  of  human  beings  have  lived  and  died,  and  the 
speaker  has  told  us  that  he  does  not  believe  a  single  one  of  these  has  been 
lost ;  and  yet  they  did  not  know  it.  If  Spiritualism  is  true,  and  we  do 
live  hereafter,  and  the  millions  of  human  beings. that  have  existed,  ignorant 
of  the  fact,  also  live,  why,  I  ask,  employ  —  1  will  not  say  waste,  though  I 
might  —  why  employ  our  precious  moments  in  discussing  a  subject  which, 
at  best,  it  is  a  matter  of  indifference  whether  we  know  or  not  ?    [Applause.] 

But  I  will  tell  you  what  does  make  a  difference.  Suppose  your  child 
falls  into  a  well,  and  while  it  is  struggling  in  the  water,  a  man  comes  up  to 
help  you  take  him  out,  —  will  you  stand  to  convince  him  of  the  immortality 
of  the  soul  before  you  pull  the  child  out  ?  I  tell  you,  men  are  overboard  ; 
the  slave  groans  in  his  chains ;  woman  groans  in  her  supposed  inferiority 
and  in  her  oppression  ;  man  groans  in  his  ignorance ;  men  and  women  groan 
in  poverty  ;  society  groans  in  dishonesty,  in  falsehood,  in  dissipation,  in  vice, 
in  crime,  in  misery.  Shall  we  leave  this  out  of  sight,  and  argue  the  ques- 
tion whether  a  man  lives  after  he  is  dead  or  not  ?  If  there  were  nothing 
else  to  do  but  to  spend  our  time  in  mere  speculation,  I  should  have  no 
objection  ;  but  the  time  is  not  ours. 

Friends,  fifteen  years  ago,  a  society  of  women  was  formed  in  New  York, 
called  the  "  Prison  Reform  Society."  I  attended  one  of  the  meetings,  and 
a  lady  read  a  chapter  from  the  Bible,  and  then  knelt  down  and  offered 
a  long  prayer.  True  to  my  own  convictions  of  duty  to  humanity,  I 
protested  against  it  as  an  outrage.  I  said,  "  If  any  one  wants  to  pray  or 
read  the  Bible,  I  have  no  objection,  but  let  her  read  and  pray  at  home ; 
but  the  moment  we  cross  the  threshold  of  this  chamber,  called  together  to 
do  something  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  convict,  from  that  moment  the  time 
is  not  ours,  even  to  pray,  but  to  work."  I  will  say  the  same  to  this  Con- 
vention. If  the  Convention  was  not  called  for  the  benefit  of  man,  it  is 
useless  ;  if  it  is,  the  moment  we  come  together,  the  time  is  not  ours  to  dis- 
cuss the  life  hereafter  and  neglect  the  life  here.  Take  the  life  here  first  in 
hand ;  investigate  what  it  is ;  inquire  into  the  duties  of  life  and  into  the 
duties  of  man ;  see  what  we  have  to  do ;  right  it  all ;  make  the  heaven  that 
ought  to  be  upon  earth.  Let  us  live  —  live  and  enjoy  —  in  intelligence,  in 
virtue  and  in  happiness;  wipe  the  tears  from  the  eyes  of  distress;  do 
away  with  poverty ;  do  away  with  the  stigma  of  crime  and  sin,  of  shame 
and  misery.  Demolish  those  monuments  of  ignorance  and  iniquity,  jails, 
and  houses  of  correction,  and  State  Prisons ;  do  away  with  them ;  show 
that  there  is  no  need  for  them  ;  investigate  into  the  causes  that  have  made 
them  necessary,  and  remove  those  causes,  and  replace  them  with  others  that 
shall  make  necessary,  instead  of  prisons,  palaces  for  man  to  dwell  in,  and 
then  you  can  say,  not  only  is  this  life  beautiful,  not  only  can  we  live  happy 
here,  but,  at  the  same  time,  that  it  is  really  a  pity  to  leave  this  beautiful 
earth  entirely,  and  therefore  there  may  probably  be  another  life  —  but  not 
before. 

Elder  Miles  Grant,  of  Boston.  Mr.  President,  I  am  not  an  unin- 
terested member  of  this  Convention,  and  I  propose  to  define  my  position, 
before  I  say  a  word  in  relation  to  the  subject  before  us.  I  am  here  as  a 
friend  to  all  present,  but  as  an  opponent  to  some  of  the  points  of  Spir- 


32  THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

itualism.  I  am  here  a  professed  Christian,  and  a  firm  believer  in  the  Bible. 
I  wish  you  to  understand  me  on  this  point.  I  have  no  doubt  whatever  that 
it  is  just  what  it  purports  to  be,  —  so  you  will  know  where  to  find  me  during 
the  Convention. 

My  friend  Brittan,  whom  I  love  to  hear  speak,  for  he  always  speaks 
intelligently  and  understandingly,  quoted  a  passage  of  Scripture  at  the  com- 
mencement of  his  address,  Avhich  is  an  interesting  one :  "  If  a  man  die, 
shall  he  live  again  ?  "  I  do  not  know  whether  he  endorsed  that  language  or 
not. "  If  a  man  die,  shall  he  live  again  ?  "  I  see  no  meaning  in  the  expres- 
sion, "  shall  he  live  again  ?  "  unless  he  has  once  died.  The  subject  of  immor- 
tality is  the  one  particularly  before  us  now,  and  if  a  man  does  not  die, 
then  there  is  no  propriety  in  talking  about  his  living  again,  and  that  Scrip- 
ture is  certainly  meaningless.  I  declare  boldly  before  the  congregation,  that 
I  do  not  believe  man  is  immortal  —  and  yet  I  believe  the  Bible.  So  my 
position,  you  see,  is  different  from  any  that  has  been  taken  yet.  I  have 
searched  the  Bible  through,  and  can  find  no  proof  there  that  man  is  immor- 
tal. I  have  searched  Nature  through,  with,  I  think,  a  little  common  sense 
and  philosophy,  and  I  find  no  proof  there  that  man  is  immortal ;  and  I  am 
glad  to  stand  here  and  call  for  proof  that  man,  in  his  present  state,  has  a 
particle  of  immortality  about  him.  That  is  bold,  I  know  ;  it  is  bold  against 
some  who  believe  the  Bible,  as  against  Spiritualists  and  even  Atheists.  I 
shall  call,  and  call  repeatedly,  for  proof  that  man  is  immortal  in  this  present 
state. 

My  friend  Brittan  asks  the  question,  "  Can  attenuated  matter  be  organ- 
ized ?  "  This  was  a  point  not  taken  up  by  the  last  speaker  (Mrs.  Rose). 
He  assumes  that  it  can  live.  I  will  call  for  proof  on  that  point.  He 
remarked,  that  the  more  attenuated  a  material  or  etherial  substance,  the 
more  likely  it  is  to  be  organized.  That  being  true,  electricity  and  magnet- 
ism should  be  organized  into  being.  Show  me  those  beings,  if  you  please ! 
[Applause.]  I  admit  them  as  agents  or  principles,  and  I  might  go  on  and 
say  that  other  attributes  of  matter,  or  principles,  should  be  organized  on  the 
same  principle.  Man  is  composed  of  various  earthy  elements,  as  we  know, 
and  in  speaking  of  these  and  of  the  component  parts  of  the  man,  he  says, 
neither  of  these  constitute  the  man.  Now,  sir,  when  the  man  has  been 
organized  from  these  various  elements,  and  is  afterwards  disorganized,  which 
of  these  elements  is  the  man.  Tell  me,  if  these  elements  were  not  man 
before  organization,  by  what  philosophy  shall  we  say  that  these  elements, 
after  disorganization,  constitute  man  —  either  one  of  them  ?  I  read  in  my 
Bible  of  "  mortal  "  man,  but  not  of  "  immortal  "  man.  I  would  appeal  to 
my  friend  if  it  is  not  possible  for  me  to  strike  him  a  blow  sufficient  to  make 
him  unconscious  for  a  little  time  ?  Now,  if  there  is  in  man  a  real  being,  a 
real  entity,  that  cannot  be  affected  by  the  condition  of  the  physical  organi- 
zation, why  does  it  not  help  him  then,  just  when  he  wants  help  most? 
Well,  sir,  if  a  man  can  be  knocked  down  and  made  unconscious,  will  not  a 
heavier  blow,  -which  will  crush  his  head  to  pieces,  render  him  certainly  as 
much  unconscious  as  he  was  before  ?  In  other  words,  will  that  heavy  blow, 
which  crushes  his  head  to  pieces,  bring  him  to  life  ?  I  appeal  to  the  common 
sense  of  the  people  ;  just  look  at  that,  if  you  please.  I  am  here  to  main- 
tain the  opposite  doctrine ;  and  I  am  prepared  to  show  that  man  is  not 
immortal,  in  his  present  state. 

To  prevent  misapprehension,  allow  me  to  say,  that  I  believe  in  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead,  as  the  Bible  teaches,  and  that  man  will  live  hereafter 
eternally.     If  I  stick  to  my  Bible,  I  must  adhere  to  that  position,  for  that 


THE   NATURAL    EVIDENCES    OF   IMMORTALITY.  33 

teaches  me  to  seek  for  "  honor,  glory,  and  immortality."  Do  you  think  we 
would  be  taught  to  seek  for  that  which  we  possess  already  ?  I  am  taught 
in  tlie  blessed  Bibk;,  if  I  may  call  it  so  before  this  congregation,  that  this 
mortal  shall  put  on  "  immortality."  I  do  not  talk  of  putting  on  my  coat 
when  I  have  it  on.  The  question  still  comes  back  to  us.  Is  man  immortal? 
If  I  go  to  my  Bible,  I  find  the  origin  of  the  doctrine  of  the  immortality  of 
the  soul  in  the  words  of  a  certain  being  to  the  first  parents,  in  the  Garden 
of  Eden,  six  thousand  years  ago,  "Thou  shalt  not  surely  die!"  If  that 
saying  was  true,  then  my  friend  is  right  in  advocating  the  immortality  of 
the  soul.  But  a  higher  being  declares,  "Thou  shalt  surely  die."  Who 
told  the  truth  —  the  Lord  or  the  devil? 

A  VOICE.     "The  devil." 

Elder  Grant.  Very  well ;  you  may  believe  the  devil,  I  will  believe 
the  Lord.     [Loud  applause,  and  a  shout  of  "  Amen  ! "  ] 

Mr.  Brittan.  I  believe  the  declaration  in  the  book  of  Genesis  to 
which  the  speaker  refers  is — "In  the  day  that  thou  eatest  thereof,  thou 
shalt  surely  die."  The  question  is,  did  Adam  die  in  the  sense  in  which  the 
gentleman  regards  death  on  that  day  ?  And  if  he  did  not  die  on  that  day, 
did  our  Lord  speak  the  truth  ? 

Elder  Grant.  The  question  is  an  important  one,  and  I  am  glad  it 
has  been  put.  "In  the  day  thou  eatest  thereof,  thou  shalt  surely  die."  We 
are  told  that  it  was  a  moral  death,  because  Adam  did  not  die  a  literal  death 
on  that  day.  In  the  margin  we  read,  "  In  dying,  thou  shalt  die."  It  may 
be  taken  in  that  sense :  man  began  to  waste  away  from  that  day.  The 
Jews  understood  the  day  to  mean  a  thousand  years,  and  believed  that  if 
he  had  lived  through  that  period,  his  punishment  would  have  ended.  But 
when  we  come  to  look  at  the  original  word,  which  the  translators  have  ren- 
dered "  in,"  we  see  that  it  may  be  translated  "  after,"  or  "  against."  If  they 
had  used  the  word  "  after,"  it  would  have  read,  "  after  the  day  that  thou 
eatest  thereof,  thou  shalt  surely  die."  It  is  certain  that  the  Lord  did  not 
contemplate  his  death  on  that  very  day,  because  he  told  him,  "  By  the  sweat 
of  thy  brow  shalt  thou  eat  bread." 

J.  S.  LovELAND,  of  New  York.  Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gen- 
tlemen:— I  do  not  propose  to  argue  this  question,  because  ten  minutes  is 
too  short  a  time.  I  wish  simply  to  advert  to  some  remarks  that  have  been 
made  by  the  last  speaker.  The  brother  says,  in  the  first  place,  that  he  has 
searched  through  the  Bible,  and  does  not  find  immortality  there ;  and  in  the 
second  place,  that  he  has  searched  through  nature,  and  has  not  found  it 
there ;  which  expressions  mean,  if  they  mean  any  thing,  that  he  has  so 
searched  the  Bible  as  to  fully  and  thoroughly  comprehend  all  of  its  mean- 
ing, and  there  is  no  affirmation  of  man's  immortality,  and  that  he  has  so 
searched  nature  as  to  so  far  apprehend  all  its  principles,  all  its  teachings, 
and  all  its  forms,  as  to  feel  confident  that  in  none  of  them  is  there  a  whis- 
pered utterance  of  man's  immortality.  If  this  be  so,  then  I  fall  down  and 
worship  that  man,  as  I  would  a  God.  Let  it  be  said,  however,  that  myriads 
of  men,  and  women  also,  have  searched  that  same  Bible,  and,  he  will  not 
question,  with  as  earnest  devotion,  with  as  believing  prayerfulness,  as  him- 
self, and  they  have  found  immortality  there.  I  do  not  say  this  proves  any 
thing,  but  simply  that  it  shows  that  all  men  do  not  look  through  the  same 
spectacles  in  looking  at  that  book.  And  also,  other  men,  he  will  not 
deny,  as  deeply  philosophical,  as  acutely  analytical  and  critical,  have  looked 
as  far  as  they  could  into  nature,  not  "through"  her — for  I  judge,  when  the 
brother  comes  to  think  of  it,  he  will  never  say  again  that  he  has  looked. 
3 


34  THE    RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

"through"  nature — and  the  further  they  have  looked,  and  the  more  intently, 
reverently,  prayerfully  they  have  listened,  there  has  come  from  every  prin- 
ciple of  nature,  a  voice  which,  felling  upon  the  chords  of  their  own  awakened 
consciousness,  has  caused  them  to  vibrate  again  and  again  with  the  soul- 
ravishing  melody  of  immortality.  And  it  is  so  to-day.  A  thousand  soul- 
strings  respond  to-day  in  unison  with  that  utterance,  as  it  comes  to  them 
from  the  peopled  spheres  of  invisible  life,  and  from  every  tongue  of  nature, 
speaking  around  us  in  the  great  song  of  the  universe,  that  eternal  law.  That 
is,  it  is  so  to  them.  I  do  not  present  it  as  an  argument ;  I  only  reply  to 
assumptions. 

Once  more.  My  friend,  Mrs.  Rose,  thinks  that  the  question  of  the  life  to 
come  should  be  held  in  abeyance  until  we  first  attend  to  the  life  that  is. 
This,  perhaps,  would  be  well,  if  we  knew  what  the  life  that  is  really  is. 
That  is,  if  we  were  perfectly  sure  that  the  life  that  now  is  was  measured  by 
the  bounds  of  what  we  term  time  and  space,  it  would  be  so ;  but  if  the  life 
that  now  is  is  but  the  embryonic  manifestation  of  a  life  that  is  to  run  through 
the  eternal  ages,  then  it  is  of  the  last  importance  that  that  question  should 
be  settled  ;  for  if,  when  this  life  begins,  there  be  principles  operating  which 
are  to  mould  and  make  the  destiny  of  that  which  is  to  come,  then  we  ought 
to  know  it,  if  it  be  knowable,  and  every  avenue  of  knowledge  should  be 
explored,  and  every  labyrinth  of  possible  speculation  should  be  gone  through 
and  thoroughly  scanned  and  scrutinized,  before  we  sit  down  and  say  that  the 
present,  judged  of  as  a  finality,  should  be  first  settled,  before  the  great  future 
is  so  much  as  thought  of,  and  that  all  thought  of  immortality  is  mere  specu- 
lation. It  is  not  so.  The  beating  hearts  of  this  audience  bear  me  witness ; 
and  in  their  aspirations  after  a  higher  and  a  nobler  life,  they  proclaim 
nature's  grand  argument,  which  nothing  has  been  able  to  overthrow,  that 
man,  who  lives  now,  will  live  on  forever  in  the  future. 

William  Goodell.  In  addition  to  what  has  been  said  by  the  last 
speaker,  I  wish  just  to  throw  in  one  idea,  very  briefly.  We  must  first 
ascertain  the  truth  concerning  the  immortality  of  man,  before  we  can  know 
any  thing,  to  any  good  purpose,  of  the  nature  of  man,  of  the  responsibilities 
of  man,  and  of  the  rights  of  man.  If  man  is  to  die  like  the  beast,  then  who 
shall  say  that  he  has  any  other  rights  than  the  rights  of  the  beast  ?  But  if 
man  be  an  immortal  being,  if  he  be  destined  to  eternity,  if  he  be  a  being  of 
more  consequence  than  all  the  other  beings  in  this  lower  world,  then  his 
rights  become  sacred.  No  man,  no  community,  can  really  understand  their 
rights,  or  be  in  a  position  to  maintain  them,  unless  they  have  a  deep  and 
abiding  sense  of  their  future  endless  existence. 

S.  C.  Chandler  of  Wisconsin.  This  discussion  cannot  but  be  interesting 
to  the  audience.  As  I  have  but  a  few  moments,  I  shall  not  stop  to  give  you 
an  introduction.  I  wish  to  present,  in  addition  to  what  has  been  said  upon 
the  materialistic  view,  some  ideas  that  have  not  yet  been  expressed  —  that 
is,  they  have  not  been  presented  as  distinct  and  separate  ideas.  If  you  and 
I  believe  in  the  immortality  of  man,  we  must  discover  his  immortality  from 
his  organism,  and  from  what  we  learn  of  its  nature,  its  structure,  and  the 
laws  by  which  it  is  governed — not  only  the  laws  which  have  given  man 
■  existence  as  a  distinct  being,  but  also  the  laws  that  sustain  him.  Therefore, 
I  wish  to  direct  your  attention  to  the  machinery  of  nature  that  produces  man 
and  that  produces  what  we  term  mind. 

The  Spiritualists,  if  I  understand  them,  believe  mind  to  be  a  distinct 
entity,  and  that  what  you  are  to  call  man  proper,  the  real  man,  is  his  mind, 
:  and  that  his  mind  is  an  organism,  an  invisible,  ethereal  organism,  that  exists 


THE   NATURAL    EVIDENCES    OP   IMMORTALITY.  35 

as  sensibly  and  really, as  the  body  does.  Let  us  examine,  then,  into  this 
point  a  moment.  Here  are  the  particles  of  matter  that  compose  the  body ; 
and  as  this  body  is  composed,  it  has  its  separate  organs,  and  these  organs  of 
the  body,  with  all  its  functions,  perform  a  certain  office.  The  eye  is  one 
part  of  the  body,  that  gives  you  vision ;  the  ear  is  one  part  of  this  physical 
structure,  that  seems  to  give  you  the  consciousness  of  sound ;  the  nervous 
system  seems  to  be  the  only  part  of  the  body  that  is  sensible  to  touch.  Now, 
then,  if  you  destroy  the  eye,  you  destroy  the  consciousness  of  vision  ;  if  you 
destroy  the  ear,  you  destroy  the  consciousness  of  sound ;  if  you  destroy  the 
nervous  system,  you  destroy  the  consciousness  of  feeling.  The  fact,  that 
when  a  man's  arm  is  cut  off,  he  is  still  conscious  at  times  that  he  has  an  arm, 
does  not  meet  the  point.  It  is  the  force  of  habit.  If  you  are  accustomed  to 
drink  tea  or  coffee  when  you  sit  down  to  the  table,  you  will  call  for  it, 
instinctively  as  it  were.  It  is  the  force  of  habit.  If  you  do  not  receive  the 
tea  or  coffee,  if  there  is  none  provided,  nevertheless,  the  force  of  habit  calls 
for  it.  So  in  the  use  of  the  limbs  after  they  are  dismembered.  But  notice, 
the  nervous  system  is  the  seat  of  sensation ;  so,  if  you  destroy  this,  you 
destroy  that  part  of  man  by  which  he  thinlis  and  acts. 

I  wish  now  to  present  this  thought  —  that  mind  is  the  result  of  the  spirit- 
life,  operating  upon  the  machine,  or  organism,  and  adequate  to  produce 
thouglit,  whenever  it  operates  upon  it.  To  illustrate  :  I  take  you  into  a  fac- 
tory ;  I  show  you  a  machine  adequate  to  manufacture  cloth  ;  I  show  you  the 
wheels,  the  belts,  the  shuttles,  and  all  parts  of  the  machine ;  but  there  it 
stands.  You  say  it  does  not  manufacture  cloth.  Why  ?  Because  something 
else  is  necessary.  What  is  it  ?  It  is  something  to  move  the  machine.  Now, 
I  let  on  the  water  or  apply  the  steam  power  to  move  the  machine.  Now 
it  moves,  and  the  result  is,  cloth  is  manufactured.  I  wish  you  to  look  at 
this  point.  It  is  not  the  power  that  produces  the  cloth,  nor  the  machine,  but 
it  is  both  acting  together.  When  you  separate  them,  you  destroy  the  ability 
to  manufacture  cloth.  So  it  is  with  mind.  You  and  I  had  no  mind  until 
we  had  a  brain,  and  in  proportion  as  that  is  defective,  there  is,  necessarily, 
a  defect  in  mind.  Here,  then,  is  the  point :  it  is  not  the  spirit,  the  life  in 
man,  that  produces  mind,  independently,  of  itself,  which  I  acknowledge  to 
be  immortal.  I  acknowledge  that  what  you  call  spirit  life,  whatever  the 
spirit  is,  is  immortal,  as  the  body  is  immortal,  but  not  in  its  form.  All 
matter  is  immortal ;  it.  never  had  a  beginning,  neither  can  it  have  an  end. 
This  has  been  the  great  error  of  all  Christendom  —  the  belief  in  the  text : 
"  In  the  beginning,  God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth."  There  never 
was  a  beginning  of  nature  ;  all  nature  has  existed  from  all  eternity,  and  so 
with  man.  He  never  had  a  beginning,  that  is,  in  the  principles  and  struc- 
ture of  his  organism.  They  were  in  nature,  but  when  they  were  put  to- 
gether, it  was  essential  to  have  a  various  organism,  in  order  to  produce 
mind.  When  you  separate,  therefore,  the  power  that  moves  upon  the  brain 
from  the  brain,  you  have  no  mind ;  otherwise,  you  might  preach  the  immor 
tality  of  the  soul,  and  hence  the  preexistence  of  man.  Whoever  does 
so,  preaches  the  preexistence  of  man.  He  must  have  existed  from  all  eter- 
nity, because  that  life  principle  existed  and  extended  to  all  the  particles  of 
matter  that  compose  his  body.  Therefore,  I  say,  that  while  the  two  parts 
of  man,  the  spirit  and  the  body,  are  united,  and  the  spirit  acts  upon  the  brain, 
the  result  is  mind  ;  but  when  you  separate  them,  it  cannot  produce  mind,  it 
must  have  brain  to  do  it ;  it  cannot  produce  sight,  it  must  have  eyes ;  it 
cannot  produce  hearing,  it  must  have  ears ;  it  cannot  produce  feeling,  it  must 
have  the  nervous  system ;  and  as  these  are  the  body,  when  these  go  back. 


36  THE  RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

man  is  as  he  was  born.  I  do  not  say  this  is  so ;  there  may  be  some  means 
by  which  my  identity  shall  be  preserved  —  I  hope  there  are ;  but  while  I  hope, 
I  ask  you  to  look  at  this  point,  and  see  if  you  can  discover  mind  when  you 
have  not  brain,  and  if  it  is  not  true  that  it  is  only  when  there  is  a  full  and 
free  operation  of  the  spirit  life  upon  man's  organism,  that  you  have  a  perfect 
manifestation  of  the  phenomena  of  rational  life. 

The  President  then  stated  that  the  resolutions  which  were  before  the 
Convention  were  not  presented  for  the  purpose  of  securing  a  vote  upon  them, 
but  as  embracing  topics  for  discussion.  They  could  be  called  up  at  any 
time,  at  the  option  of  any  individual,  when  the  regular  programme  of  the 
Convention  did  not  interfere.  With  this  explanation,  he  hoped  the  Conven- 
tion would  not  object  to  waiving  the  discussion  of  the  resolutions  at  present 
before  them,  to  make  way  for  the  regular  exercises  of  the  programme. 

The  Business  Committee  then  submitted  the  following  resolution  : — 

Resolved,  That  under  the  Divine  government,  the  law  of  progress,  from  the  monad  to 
the  highest  angelic  society,  is  manifested  by  and  through  organization. 

Another  song  was  sung  by  the  Harmonial  Club,  after  which  the  Conven- 
tion was  addressed  by  Joel  Tiffany,  of  New  York,  substantially  as 
follows :  — 

SPEECH   OF   JOEL    TIFFANY. 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen :  —  The  subject  which  I  wish  to  present  to  your 
minds  under  the  present  resolution,  is  the  necessity  and  use  of  organization, 
in  the  individual  and  in  the  associated  form.  When  we  look  at  man  as  a 
physical,  intellectual,  social,  moral  and  religious  being,  and  study  him  in  the 
light  of  each  department  of  his  nature,  we  find  that  in  certain  things  all 
men  are  alike  and  all  women  are  alike.  Their  physical  natures  are  begotten 
under  the  same  law,  unfolded  under  the  same  government,  perfected  by  the 
operation  of  the  same  principles  ;  and  when  we  endeavor  to  ascertain  what 
the  law  of  creation,  unfoldment,  and  perfection  is,  we  find  it  to  be  the  same 
in  reference  to  every  individual  being  ;  so  that,  if  they  were  to  speak  from 
the  platform  of  their  physical  needs,  they  would  all  speak  the  same  lan- 
guage. When  we  look  at  man  as  an  intellectual  being,  we  find  that  his  in- 
tellectual nature  is  unfolded  under  the  same  law,  —  that  he  is  made 
intellectually  strong  or  weak  by  the  observance  or  disregard  of  the  same 
great  fundamental  truths  or  principles  ;  and  hence,  throughout  the  intel- 
lectual departments  of  their  being,  all  men  are  much  alike,  and  are  to  be 
unfolded  alike  ;  and  if  I  would  perfect  my  intellectual  nature,  I  must  observe 
the  same  law  that  you  must  in  order  to  perfect  yours,  and  you  must  use  the 
same  that  I  must.  When  I  look  into  my  social  nature,  and  inquire  what  are 
my  social  needs,  giving  rise  to  social  aspirations  and  desires,  I  find  they  are  the 
same  as  those  of  other  men.  When  I  come  into  any  relation  with  a  fellow- 
being,  whether  conjugal,  friendly,  parental,  or  filial,  I  find  that  that  relation 
gives  rise  to  an  unfoldment  of  the  same  principles,  the  same  sympathies,  as- 
pirations and  desires,  with  those  of  other  men,  when  they  come  into  a  simi- 
lar relation  ;  and  consequently,  that  I  am  to  be  unfolded  in  those  departments 
of  being  as  you  are,  and  you  are  as  I  am.  Hence,  when  we  speak  from  the 
plane  of  our  physical  natures,  we  all  speak  the  same  language,  because  we 
are  begotten  and  born  under  the  same  law,  must  render  allegiance  to  the 
same  government,  and  must  be  ultimated  and  perfected  in  it  by  the  appli- 
cation of  the  same  principles  to  each  department  of  our  nature. 


ORGANIZATION.  37 

Now,  when  I  wish  to  investigate  this  great  principle  or  law,  I  find  another 
great  principle  made  apparent  —  that  if  I  am  to  be  governed  and  ruled  at 
all,  I  must  be  governed  by  that  which  rules  in  me.  If  I  look  into  my  na- 
ture, and  find  myself  supremely  selfish,  I  shall  be  ruled  by  whatever  appeals 
to  me  through  the  sense  of  self-gain  or  self-gratification.  You  cannot  gov- 
ern me  by  the  moral  law  until  the  moral  law  is  ruler  in  me.  You  cannot 
make  me  obedient  to  any  moral  principle  you  may  set  up,  until  you  have 
established  a  principle  in  my  nature  that  recognizes  its  authority.  Can  any 
one  doubt  that  I  must  be  governed  by  the  law  that  is  in  me;  and  if  that  law 
be  one  of  selfishness  and  lust,  that  I  must  be  governed  by  principles  appealing 
to  me  through  that  ?  Hence,  when  we  talk  about  governing  man,  it  makes 
a  difference  where  that  man  is  to  be  found.  If  you  find  in  him  a  selfish  na- 
ture, where  the  law  is,  "  an  eye  for  an  eye,  a  tooth  for  a  tooth,  life  for 
life,  limb  for  limb,"  he  must  be  governed  by  that  law,  for  he  recognizes  no 
other,  and  he  will  obey  no  other;  and  while  under  the  dominion  of  his  sel- 
fishness and  lust,  he  seeks  his  own  self-gain  and  self-gratification,  to  the  de- 
struction of  the  equal  rights  and  needs  of  his  fellow.  Hence,  it  becomes 
necessary  that  there  should  be  a  power  somewhere  to  stand  between  the 
weak  and  the  strong,  the  innocent  and  the  guilty,  and  to  protect  that  being 
who,  in  its  weakness  or  innocence,  cannot  protect  itself. 

Now,  then,  if  we  find  that  a  man  or  any  number  of  men,  are  living  under  a 
rule  of  iheir  nature  that  leads  them  to  regard  their  own  gain  and  gratifica- 
tion as  supreme,  and  under  that  rule,  that  they  trespass  upon  your  rights  to 
life,  liberty  and  property,  and  violate  every  principle  necessary  to  the  un- 
foldment  of  your  being,  it  becomes  necessary  that  there  should  be  some 
power,  properly,  judiciously  administered,  that  should  require  such  individual 
to  pay  respect  to  your  equal  rights  and  sovereignty.  Suppose,  now,  we 
have  come  together  this  afternoon,  for  the  purpose  of  discussing  some  of  the 
many  questions  that  may  come  before  the  meeting,  and  some  individual 
comes  in  and  assumes  the  right  to  dictate  what  shall  be  the  character  of  the 
meeting  and  of  our  deliberations.  Suppose  he  declares  he  will  not  submit 
himself  to  those  rules  and  regulations  which  you  have  adopted,  and  there- 
fore, you  must  either  abandon  the  Convention,  and  leave  him  to  do  as  he 
pleases,  or  he  must  come  within  the  rules  and  regulations  that  govern  the 
meeting.  Is  any  individual  to  say  that  his  will  is  to  be  supreme,  as  opposed 
to  the  will  of  those  present  here? — that  five  hundred  or  a  thousand  persons 
should  have  their  purpose  arrested,  because  an  individual,  through  malice  or 
any  other  motive,  should  see  fit  to  come  in  and  attempt  to  interrupt  and  de- 
stroy the  order  of  the  meeting  ?  You  see  at  once,  that  if  a  man  who  recog- 
nizes no  law  of  justice  and  truth  assumes  to  come  into  relations  with  his 
fellow-men,  there  must  be  a  power  somewhere  that  will  make  him  observe 
that  principle.  The  \ery  principle  of  sovereignty  in  the  individual  cannot 
be  maintained  except  upon  the  principle  that  we  have  a  right  to  come  to- 
gether for  a  legitimate  and  proper  purpose,  to  investigate  those  means  neces- 
sary to  the  unfoldment  of  our  physical,  intellectual,  moral  and  religious 
natures,  and,  being  thus  together,  have  a  right  to  be  protected  in  our  effort 
at  investigation ;  and  the  individual  who  should  come  in  and  set  up  his  au- 
thority to  defeat  our  purpose,  would  exercise  that  which  he  has  no  right  to 
exercise,  —  and  yet,  he  may  have  the  physical  power  to  do  this,  unless  we 
put  forth  physical  power  to  resist  that  encroachment. 

Then  I  take  this  position :  that  the  man,  naturally  under  the  rule  of  his 
appetites,  passions  and  lusts,  must  be  governed;  he  would  not  live  long 
enough  on  earth  to  attain  to  the  proper  development  of  his  physical,  intel- 


38  THE    RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

lectual,  moral  and  religious  nature,  unless  there  was  government,  for  his 
good.  The  law  of  Moses,  "An  eye  for  an  eye,  a  tooth  for  a  tooth,"  I  be- 
lieve to  be  the  principle  by  which  alone  the  selfish  man  can  be  governed. 
Hence,  in  that  department  of  society,  there  must  be  organization. 

Upon  the  same  principle,  we  go  on  a  little  further,  and  investigate  the 
unfoldment  of  man  in  his  social,  moral  and  religious  nature ;  and  I  wish  to 
go  on  and  show  that  the  same  principle  of  organization  is  necessary,  in 
order  to  secure  to  us  the  best  means  by  which  we,  as  individuals,  can  be 
unfolded  and  perfected.  The  resolution  declares  that  "  all  progress  is 
through  organization."  We  have  come  together  here  to-day  in  a  "  Free 
Convention,"  to  discuss  promiscuously  promiscuous  subjects,  and  we  have 
got  a  pretty  fair  start !  [Laughter.]  Now,  I  have  no  doubt,  that  if  there 
could  be  a  sorting  out  here  of  subjects,  it  would  be  found  that  the  questions 
could  be  discussed  altogether  more  profitably,  both  to  speakers  and  hearers. 
Under  these  circumstances,  I  wish  to  present  to  you  this  principle,  which  I 
believe  to  be  necessary  for  the  development  and  unfolding  of  your  spiritual 
natures.  I  suppose  you  all  occupy  positions  where  you  are  satisfied  that 
you  have  spiritual  natures, — you  do  not  stand  with  Mrs.  Rose  and  some  of 
the  other  speakers  here  to-day,  —  and  if  so,  then  you  want  to  investigate 
those  principles  necessary  to  the  development  of  those  spiritual  natures. 
Now,  would  it  not  be  altogether  more  pleasant,  in  order  that  we  may  be 
enlightened  upon  that  point,  that  we  associate  ourselves  together  in  a  Con- 
vention, for  that  specific  purpose,  and  not  discuss  every  question  that  ever 
was  raised,  or  ever  can  be  raised,  from  the  time  of  Adam  to  the  end  of  all 
time  ?  I  submit  to  you  if,  for  the  purpose  of  properly  investigating  a  ques- 
tion, we  could  not  arrive  at  a  more  satisfactory  conclusion,  have  more  light 
thrown  upon  the  subject,  by  having  that  single  question  presented  and  dis- 
cussed by  those  who  had,  in  their  investigations,  arrived  at  that  point  where 
they  felt  it  necessary  to  determine  it  for  themselves  ?  The  principles  of 
organization  would  leave  all  individuals  interested  in  the  subject  to  come 
together.  How  do  we  pursue  this  matter  in  other  respects  ?  K^uppose  we 
wish  to  investigate  natural  science — how  is  it  done?  Associations  are 
formed  to  investigate  each  particular  science.  One  seeks  to  investigate  the 
science  of  geology,  another  zoology,  another  botany,  another  conchology,  and 
so  on.  Committees  are  appointed  by  each  association,  and  they  investigate 
their  several  departments,  and  submit  their  reports.  I  submit  if  that  is  not 
a  very  judicious  course  to  be  pursued  by  those  who  wish  to  investigate 
these  subjects?  The  very  fact  that  they  have  associated  themselves  to- 
gether shows  that  they  felt  the  need  of  this  association  —  felt  it  necessary  to 
set  apart  times  and  places  and  means  for  carrying  forward  their  investiga- 
tions. An  individual  who  is  seeking  to  become  master  of  any  trade  or  pro- 
fession, and  who,  for  that  purpose,  wishes  to  avail  himself  of  all  the  means 
that  can  aid  him  in  attaining  a  knowledge  of  that  subject,  associates  himself 
with  other  men  who  have  the  same  object  in  view,  and  they  go  to  work  and 
form  their  libraries,  their  cabinets,  their  models,  for  study,  and  so  on.  They 
do  it  because,  in  their  associated  capacity,  they  can  accomplish  more  than 
by  each  individual  relying  upon  his  own  resources. 

Now,  the  same  principle  is  true  in  regard  to  all  our  investigations  in  sci- 
ence ;  we  associate  ourselves  together  for  the  purpose  of  making  our  spe- 
cific investigations.  So  in  moral  enterprises.  Here  is  our  friend  Wright 
and  our  other  anti-slavery  friends,  who  see  a  great  evil  and  sin  that  needs 
to  be  overthrown  ;  and  each  individual  feels  that  he  gains  power  by 
uniting  with  other  men.     Hence  he  calls  upon   all  who  think  and  feel  with 


ORGANIZATION.  89 

him  upon  the  subject  of  slavery  to  come  up  and  unite  with  him,  that  they 
may  overthrow  this  giant  evil;  —  hence  is  formed  the  great  American 
Anti-Slavery  Society. 

So  you  may  examine  through  all  the  departments  of  intellectual  and 
moral  investigation,  and  you  will  find  that  men  have  learned  to  observe  this 
principle,  that  if  they  wish  to  attain  to  excellence  in  any  particular  de- 
partment, they  must  associate  all  their  individual  energies  for  that  purpose, 
put  forth  all  their  power,  and  in  this  way  they  make  progress. 

Now,  if  you  go  back  to  the  examination  of  the  laws  of  nature,  you  find 
they  are  ever  laws  of  association.  From  tlie  time  that  the  first  particles  of 
matter  came  together  to  lay  the  foundation  for  the  universal  kingdom,  and 
thus  formed  the  first  solid  bodies,  —  from  that  time  to  the  present,  every 
thing  has  been  by  association,  by  organization.  Dig  down  to  the  primitive 
rock,  and  take  the  material  elements  of  that  rock,  and  endeavor  to  produce  a 
higher  form  of  vegetation,  and  you  cannot  do  it.  If  you  plant  a  rose  stalk, 
it  will  not  grow.  Why  ?  Because  the  particles  of  matter  concerned  in  de- 
veloping the  beauty  of  that  flower  have  not  been  associated  in  a  higher 
form.  But  let  the  particles  of  matter  that  go  into  that  rose  go  into  a  differ- 
ent organical  structure,  into  one  form  and  into  another,  and  finally  they 
will  be  prepared  to  receive  the  rose  stalk,  and  by  cultivation  you  get  the 
double  rose.     All  this  is  obtained  by  association  and  organization. 

It  is  true,  the  first  vegetable  forms  that  appeared  upon  our  earth  were 
not  the  highest.  First  appeared  the  lowest  forms  of  vegetable  life ;  but 
because  they  were  so,  would  you  despise  their  organization  ?  Do  you  in- 
quire why  the  Creator  did  not  give  us  the  highest  forms  first  ?  Simply  be- 
cause the  law  is,  that  the  first  organization  taken  from  dead,  inert  matter, 
must  be  but  one  degree  removed  above  it.  Why  can  you  not  upon  the 
granite  mountain  get  your  double  rose  ?  Simply  because  the  particles  of 
matter  have  not  been  organized  and  disorganized  times  enough.  They 
cannot  receive  the  vital  force  that  will  bring  them,  by  the  law  of  vital  attrac- 
tion, into  the  beauty  of  the  double  rose.  But  let  them  go  through  this  pro- 
cess, until  you  have  prepared  the  material  from  the  decayed  vegetation  of 
tlie  rose,  and  from  those  particles  of  matter,  which  have  gone  over  and  over 
again  through  this  organization  and  disorganization,  and  directly  the  most 
beautiful  double  rose  appears.  Why  not  at  first?  Simply  because  the 
matter  entering  into  its  composition  had  not  been  organized  and  disorgan- 
ized often  enough. 

So  in  human  society.  What  are  your  first  organizations  ?  In  the  savage 
state,  man  ai)pears  as  it  were  without  any  organization  of  society ;  every 
man  sets  up  his  own  authority,  and  by  virtue  of  that  power,  seeks  to  com- 
mand his  fellow ;  then  men  organize  themselves  into  separate  tribes,  each 
warring  upon  the  otlier.  One  tribe  organizes  and  is  dissolved,  and  in  this 
conflict  of  tribes,  their  natures  are  unfolded,  their  intellects  are  developed, 
and  by-and-by  their  moral  natures  begin  to  unfold,  and  they  begin  to  learn 
that  each  man  has  the  same  nature.  The  first  organizations  are  imperfect ; 
but,  impeifect  as  they  are,  they  are  developed  on  the  same  principle.  Cer- 
tain defects  are  revealed,  which  lead  men  to  seek  a  remedy  for  those  defects, 
and  in  seeking  that  remedy,  they  look  deeper  and  deeper  into  the  arcana  of 
nature,  and  God  is  revealed  to  man  in  nature.  So,  notwithstanding  all  the 
organizations  that  have  gone  before  us  have  been  imperfect,  and  because  of 
that  imperfection  have  passed  away,  yet  how  much  have  they  done  for  us  ? 
They  have  unfolded  to  us  more  and  more  man's  nature  and  needs  ;  they 
have  revealed  to  us  the  necessity  of  some  higher  principle  by  which  to 


40 


THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 


regulate  and  govern  man,  than  that  which  has  been  incorporated  into  human 
government ;  they  have  revealed  unto  man  the  importance  of  looking 
beyond  the  transitory  and  finite  to  the  imperishable  and  the  infinite. 

Now,  then,  if  these  organizations  had  not  been  going  on  from  tlie  first 
existence  of  society  until  now,  we  should  not  have  leai'ned  these  things. 
We  look  into  the  civil  organizations  of  the  various  countries  of  the  world; 
into  the  civil  organization  of  Russia,  for  instance,  and  by  seeing  the  practi- 
cal effect  of  the  principles  which  the  Czar  of  Russia  brings  to  bear  in  the 
government  of  his  subjects,  we  discover  defects  in  that  organization,  and  we 
seek  some  means  to  remedy  those  defects.  We  go  to  England,  and  read 
the  Constitution  of  that  country,  study  its  history,  and  its  administration, 
and  discover  its  virtues  and  defects.  There  we  have  "  history  teaching  us 
by  example,"  in  recording  the  operations  of  that  governmont,  administered 
under  such  principles.  We  could  not  have  learned  by  intuition  the  defects 
of  the  Russian  system  of  government ;  we  are  obliged  to  depend  upon  ex- 
periment to  reveal  to  us  our  needs  and  the  means  by  Avhich  those  needs  are 
to  be  supplied ;  and  when  the  British  government  was  found  incompetent 
to  administer  the  affairs  of  a  great  nation  in  the  west,  this  country  rose  up 
like  a  young  giant,  and  flung  off  the  shackles  of  the  mother  country,  and 
established,  not  a  perfect  government,  but  a  more  perfect  one  than  that 
which  tliey  had  thrown  off —  one  that  would  meet  more  perfectly  the  de- 
mands of  tlie  people.  And  here  we  are  to-day,  standing  upon  all  the  ages 
that  have  gone  before,  scrutinizing  the  history  and  administration  of  that 
government,  and  we  find  it  wofully  defective  in  the  application  of  its  great 
principles.  But  we  should  not  have  discovered  the  defects,  if  this  attempt 
at  organization  had  not  been  made.  Those  very  defects  make  my  friend 
Wright  seek  out  a  better  way,  and  lead  him  to  proclaim  his  principle  of  the 
authority  of  each  individual  soul. 

Now,  what  we  need  is  not  to  declaim  against  all  organizations,  because 
we  have  not  attained  to  our  highest  state.  We  need  to  search  out  the  de- 
fects of  all  past  government"^,  knowing  that  we  are  still  surrounded  by  men 
governed  by  lusts  and  appetites  —  by  men  who  ignore  all  moral  restraints 
—  and  therefore  we  need  protection.  They  need  to  be  protected  from  one 
another,  and  the  virtuous,  the  weak,  the  innocent  and  the  pure  need  to  be 
protected  from  them. 

What  shall  we  do  ?  Become  discouraged,  and  say  we  will  have  no  more 
government,  no  more  organization,  no  more  association  ?  Is  that  to  be  the 
law  ?  No.  We  shall  never  arrive  at  the  highest  and  best  method  of  gov- 
erning mankind  —  I  mean  those  who  do  not  recognize  the  principles  of  truth, 
purity  and  justice  as  supreme  —  until  we  have  made  experiments  enough 
to  find  the  points  we  need  to  understand  and  incorporate  into  that  govern- 
ment. Therefore  I  believe  in  the  propriety  and  necessity  of  continuing  our 
organization,  taking  advantage  of  all  our  past  experience,  and  learning 
from  the  history  of  other  nations  and  governments,  and  seeking  to  organize 
upon  the  highest  principles  of  truth,  justice  and  freedom  ;  and  whenever  we 
find  we  have  committed  an  error,  make  it  our  first  business  to  correct  that 
error. 

So  in  regard  to  our  religious  organizations.  These  organizations,  it  is 
said,  have  sought  to  fetter  the  conscience  of  man,  and  therefore  every  thing 
like  a  rehgious  creed  or  organization  is  denounced.  Now,  what  I  wish  to 
say  in  regard  to  creed  is  this ;  every  man  who  has  a  thought  of  his  own  will 
have  a  creed,  in  spite  of  all,  and  that  creed  may  be  so  opposed  to  all  others 
that  it  will  contain  but  one  article,  and  that  is — "No  creed."     I  have  found 


ORGANIZATION.  41 

in  society  a  class  of  individuals  denouncing  all  bigotry  based  upon  any  creed, 
and  of  all  bigotry,  I  have  never  found  any  equal  to  that  by  which  they  attempt 
to  defend  the  doctrine  of  "  no  creed."  You  may  take  what  position  you 
please,  whether  it  be  a  positive  or  a  negative  one,  and  you  will  make  a 
creed  of  it.  The  difficulty  is  not  in  the  fact  that  two  men,  believing  alike, 
associate  themselves  together ;  the  difficulty  is,  that  you  are  all  endeavoring 
to  play  Nebuchadnezzar — trying  to  make  every  man  worship  your  image. 
That  is  where  the  great  difficulty  lies.  When  you  and  I  have  the  spirit  of 
truth,  that  rises  up  spontaneously  from  the  soul,  and  shows  us  that  we  have 
needs,  and  leads  us  to  seek  the  supply  of  those  needs,  and  I  think,  by  pursu- 
ing a  certain  method  I  can  secure  those  needs,  and  you  think  by  pursuing 
another  you  will  attain  the  same  end,  it  is  not  for  me  to  require  you  to  walk 
in  my  path,  nor  for  you  to  undertake  to  make  me  walk  in  yours.  But  we 
can  be  agreed  in  this — we  can  be  agreed  as  to  what  are  the  needs.  If  the 
Jew  feels  that  he  needs,  in  his  aspirations  to  be  obedient  to  the  all-true,  all- 
pure,  all-just,  and  all-good,  the  highest  idea  that  can  represent  the  all-just, 
pure,  true,  and  good,  and  that  idea  may  be  what  the  Jews  call  "  Jehovah,"  the 
"I  Am,"  so  that  when  that  name  is  pronounced,  his  knee  bows  before  him, 
his  tongue  confesses,  and  his  heart  goes  forth  in  its  earnest  aspirations  after 
that  Jehovah,  you  have  no  business  to  find  fault  that  he  calls  him  Jehovah. 
And  when  the  Christian  man  bows  before  Him  who  becomes  to  him  the 
outward  manifestation  of  all  that  is  holy,  and  pure,  and  true,  in  the  person 
of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  so  that  when  that  word  is  pronounced,  all  that  his 
nature  can  conceive  or  aspire  after  is  called  into  action  in  his  soul,  and  bows 
meekly  and  humbly  before  that  holy  name,  and  worships  at  its  shrine,  you 
have  no  business  to  taunt  him  or  cast  filth  upon  his  symbol,  to  stain  and  de- 
file that  which  had  become  to  him  the  type  of  the  all-true,  the  all-pure,  and 
the  all-good.  If  you  do  this,  you  do  violence  to  his  soul.  Respect  the 
aspirations  and  desires  that  dignify  the  symbol,  even  if  you  cannot  respect 
the  symbol  itself,  and  bid  him  God-speed  in  the  worship  of  that  great  sym- 
bol for  which  his  soul  hungers  and  thirsts.  So  you  may  go  through  all 
forms  of  faith,  and  you  will  find  that  each  man  enthrones  the  representative 
of  his  higliest  aspirations  in  the  very  centre  of  his  heart,  and  bows  down 
and  worships. 

Now,  then,  I  may  not  require  him  to  call  his  symbol  by  the  name  which 
I  give  to  mine,  or  teach  the  same  philosophy  in  regard  to  it  that  I  do  in 
regard  to  mine ;  but  let  me  know  that  in  his  heart  he  is  hungering  and 
thirsting  after  righteousness,  and  I  will  bow  down  with  him  and  worship  the 
all-just,  the  all-pure,  and  all-good,  in  the  light  of  my  aspirations  and  desires  ; 
and  we  will  both  worship  before  the  same  principle,  according  as  it  is  mani- 
fested in  each  of  our  souls.  I  say,  then,  that  when  we  speak  of  individuals 
associating  themselves  together  for  the  purpose  of  cultivating  their  religious 
nature,  their  highest,  and  holiest,  and  best,  the  difficulty  is  not  in  the  fact 
that  they  have  set  up  a  creed  or  a  symbol  as  the  representative  of  tliat 
creed ;  but  the  difficulty  is,  that  each  man  assumes  the  right,  like  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, to  set  up  an  image  somewhere  in  the  plains  of  Dura,  and  require  all  na- 
tions, kindred,  people,  and  tongues,  "  at  the  sound  of  the  cornet,  flute,  sacbut, 
harp,  psalter,  and  all  kinds  of  music,  to  bow  down  and  worship  the  image  that 
Nebuchadnezzar  the  king  has  set  up."     There  is  where  the  difficulty  lies. 

Now,  why  need  you  and  my  friend  Mrs.  Rose  quarrel  about  names  ?  I 
wear  a  symbol  upon  my  breast  that  represents  my  higliest  conception  of  the 
all-just,  and  pure,  and  good,  and  you  have  no  business  to  quarrel  with  me 
because  I  weai'  it.     It  becomes  to  me  a  perpetual  monitor,  it  suggests  some- 


42  THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

thing  valuable  to  me.  I  wear  the  symbol  of  the  cross  —  representing  the 
crucifixion  of  all  the  passions,  appetites,  and  lusts  of  the  flesh.  It  is  none 
of  your  business  if  it  becomes  to  me  a  sacred  symbol,  suggesting  the  neces- 
sity of  mortifying  the  lusts  of  the  body,  and  utterly  destroying  them.  Re- 
vile me  not  for  wearing  that  cross ;  you  are  not  hurt  by  it,  and  it  is  of  some 
benefit  to  me.  It  becomes  a  symbol  that  suggests  better,  higher,  and  holier 
thoughts  to  me. 

The  principle  which  I  wish  to  lay  before  you  is,  that  every  one  of  you 
shall  seek  to  obtain  that  symbol  which  shall  become  to  you  a  living,  om- 
nipresent symbol  of  the  all-pure,  all-just,  and  all-good — no  matter  by  what 
name  you  call  it.  If  you  get  that  omnipresent  symbol,  strive  with  all  the 
energy  of  your  soul  to  grow  up  into  the  likeness  of  all  which  it  symbolizes 
to  you.  If  you  do  not  get  that  symbol,  you  will  not  have  that  which  your 
soul  may  have  and  needs,  and  which  will  do  much  towards  calling  you  up 
to  a  better  and  a  higher  life. 

Now,  then,  for  organization  in  a  religious  sense — for  I  am  speaking  in 
favor  of  organization.  Suppose  I  find  ten,  twenty,  thirty,  or  fifty  men  and 
women  who  think  and  feel  as  I  do,  who  have  the  same  aspirations,  and  who 
feel  that  they  can  gather  together  with  me,  and  thus,  by  our  mutual  breath- 
ings forth,  stimulate  each  other  to  higher,  holier,  and  purer  desires,  and  for 
that  purpose  we  come  together,  and  thus  unitedly,  with  all  our  hearts  and 
aspirations,  breathe  forth  our  desires  to  that  great  infinite  source  of  all  good 
—  have  you  any  objection  to  it?  Have  you  any  business  to  say  one  word 
against  it  ?  It  is  our  business,  when  we  come  together,  to  remember  that 
you  have  the  same  rights  that  we  have.  "We  have  no  right  to  disturb  or 
denounce  you.  We  have  the  right  to  show  to  you  a  better  way  by  our 
lives,  but  we  have  no  right  or  business  to  abuse,  villify,  or  misrepresent  you. 

Now  then,  I  show  you  this  truth,  and  ask  you  to  discuss  it.  I  am  willing 
to  be  thoroughly  overhauled  upon  it,  especially  when  I  have  the  opportunity 
to  reply.  The  great  difficulty  has  been,  not  that  men  and  women  have 
embraced  a  creed,  but  that  they  have  forgotten  what  the  creed  represents  — 
that  they  have  ceased  to  worship  the  spirit  and  fallen  to  worshipping  the 
form.  A  Christian  may  be  said  to  be  guilty  of  idolatry,  when,  taking  the 
individual,  Jesus  Christ,  as  he  stands  before  the  world,  he  forgets  that  which 
was  revealed  through  him,  and  worships  the  man.  When  you  abandon  the 
worship  of  the  spirit,  you  become  an  idolater.  So  when  we  take  the  Sab- 
bath—  if  you  please — a  day  set  apart  for  rest,  if  you  make  use  of  that  day 
to  elevate  and  improve  your  condition,  it  is  well  kept ;  but  if,  neglecting  all 
such  uses,  you  merely  keep  it  as  holy  time,  bigotedly  and  superstitiously, 
you  become  as  much  an  idolater  as  if  you  worshipped  a  piece  of  wood  or 
stone.  Just  so  with  regard  to  all  these  outward  forms  of  worship.  If  you 
overlook  the  spirit  and  worships  the  form,  you  become  an  idolater.  It  all 
sums  itself  up  in  this :  if  your  worship  is  the  aspiration  of  the  soul  to  be 
peffect  as  God  is  perfect,  to  be  holy,  just,  and  good,  as  he  is  holy,  just,  and 
good,  and  you  bid  God-speed  to  every  one,  however  he  may  differ  from  you 
in  regard  to  forms,  who  is,  like  you,  aspiring  to  be  that,  then  you  are  in  the 
right  way ;  then  I  care  not  what  your  faith  is,  so  that  in  your  aspirations 
you  are  led  to  harmonize  with  the  all-pure,  all-true,  and  all-good.  [Loud 
applause.] 

A  brief  discussion  followed  with  regard  to  the  expediency  of  amending  or 
abrogating  the  rule  limiting  the  speakers  to  ten  minutes,  but  without  taking 
any  action  upon  the  subject,  the  Convention  adjourned,  to  meet  at  seven 
o'clock,  P.M. 


THE    BIBLE.  43 


EVENING    SESSION. 


The  Convention  was  called  to  order  at  seven  and  a  half  o'clock,  by  the 
President,  and  Rev.  A.  D.  Mayo,  of  Albany,  N.  Y.,  proceeded  to  address 
the  assembly,  on  The  Bible. 

ADDRESS   OF   REV.  A.   D.   MAYO. 

Mr.  President :  —  I  have  been  invited  to  address  this  Convention,  by  its 
Committee  of  Arrangements,  and  am  here  to  respond  to  your  call.  You 
have  intimated  your  desire  to  hear  my  views  on  the  Bihle.  I  appear  as  a 
Free  Christian  Minister,  before  a  Free  Convention.  I  am  responsible  for 
no  resolution  that  Convention  may  pass,  or  action  it  may  take  on  any  sub- 
ject. But  I  am  glad  to  appear  at  what  I  regard  a  call  of  the  people,  and 
contribute  my  part  towards  a  correct  understanding  of  the  great  facts  of 
Religion  that  underlie  society.  With  this  preface,  I  invite  your  attention  to 
some  remarks  on  the  subject  you  have  chosen  for  my  address. 

The  most  important  question  to  the  religious  development  of  our  country  is 
now  The  Authority  of  The  Bihle.  Every  doctrine  of  theology,  everj  })hase 
of  ecclesiastical  policy ;  every  problem  of  private  and  public  morality,  is 
involved  in  its  solution.  It  is  a  hopeless  endeavor  to  reconcile  the  present 
confusion  of  religious  affairs  until  we  have  arrived  at  some  inteUigent 
answer  to  these  inquiries :  —  What  is  the  Bible ;  what  is  its  Authority  in 
Religion  ;  what  is  the  true  method  of  its  use  ? 

It  may  surprise  many  who  suppose  these  questions  permanently  settled 
to  be  informed  that  never  was  there  so  much  uncertainty  upon  them  all  as  at 
this  hour.  The  number  of  Ciiristian  believers  in  the  world  is  estimated  at 
two  hundred  and  twenty  millions.  Of  this  multitude,  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  includes  one  hundred  million,  the  Greek  Church  sixty-six  million, 
and  the  Protestant  Church  fifty-four  million.  The  Roman  Catholic  and  the 
Greek  Churches,  which  chiefly  sway  the  civilization  of  continental  Europe, 
Christian  Asia,  and  South  America,  and  are  strongly  entrenched  in  Protest- 
ant Europe,  the  British  Colonies,  and  the  United  States,  teach  one  hundred 
and  sixty-six  million  of  people  that  the  Bible  is  a  Sacred  Book,  a  Divine 
Revelation  from  God  to  man.  But  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  affirms 
that  a  Sacred  Book  requires  an  infallible  interpreter  to  explain  its  meaning 
to  mankind.  Thus  the  Scriptures  are  taken  into  the  keeping  of  the  Priest- 
hood, and  given  to  the  people  in  such  manner  as  this  inspired  class,  repre- 
sented by  the  Pope,  may  decide.  The  Greek  Church  has  never  asserted 
this  claim  of  infallible  interpretation  so  completely  as  the  Church  of  Rome ; 
yet  the  free  circulation  of  the  Scriptures  has  always  been  discouraged,  and  the 
result  is  actually  the  same.  The  Bible  in  these  churches  practically  means 
the  creed  of  the  corporation  of  Priests  that  rule  these  vast  ecclesiastical 
establishments  ;  and  one  hundred  and  sixty-six  millions  of  Catholic  and 
Greek  Christians  receive  the  opinions  of  a  class  of  fallible  men  as  the  infal- 
lible word  of  God. 

The  Protestant  Church,  through  all  her  secti  that  claim  the  title  "  Evan- 
gelical," affirms  that  the  Bible  is  the  infallible  word  of  God,  inspired 
throughout  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and,  therefore,  a  complete  and  final  authority 
on  Religion.  It  also  affirms  the  right  of  all  men  to  read  the  Book,  and  pro- 
tests against  the  assumption  of  Pope  and  Patriarchs  as  infallible  interpret- 
ers ;  yet  the  Protestant  Evangelical  Church  has  constructed  a  creed  which 
it  declares  the  substance  of  God's  Word,  and  denies  the  Christian  name  to 


44  THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

all  unbelievers  in  this  "plan  of  salvation."  This  Church  says  to  fifty-four 
millions  of  Christians  :  Read  the  Bible  ;  but  if  you  -deny  its  infallible 
inspiration,  or  decline  to  submit  your  human  reason  to  its  authority,  or  find 
any  system  of  religion  taught  in  it  except  the  Evangelical  plan  of  salvation, 
you  are  Infidels.  Thus  two  divisions  of  the  Christian  Church  openly  claim 
the  right  to  give  an  infallible  interpretation  of  the  Bible  through  an  organ- 
ized Priesthood,  represented  by  Pope  and  Patriarch ;  and  the  third  division 
proclaims  a  free  Bible,  but  practically  claims  to  be  its  infallible  interpreter 
through  the  imposition  of  its  exclusive  creed.  In  either  case,  the  unbeliever 
is  punished  by  the  utmost  penalty  the  state  of  civilization  will  permit. 

As  a  natural  result  of  this  assumption  of  infallibility  by  the  three  great 
leading  churches  in  Christendom,  multitudes  of  people  in  and  out  of  their 
organizations  are  driven  to  an  utter  rejection  of  the  Bible.  A  great  num- 
ber of  those  who  support  the  Christian  Church,  not  only  reject  the  infallibil- 
ity of  the  Book,  but  regard  it  as  an  absolute  mass  of  theological  fables.  A 
larger  number  are  driven  from  the  church  by  this  assumption,  and  constitute 
a  great  army  who  sincerely  hate  the  Bible,  and  believe  the  world  would  be 
better  off  without  it.  This  class  is  increasing  in  every  division  of  the 
Church  and  every  Christian  community. 

But  out  of  this  confusion  of  belief  and  unbelief  is  now  arising  a  strong 
movement  in  favor  of  ii  scientific  examination  of  the  Bible.  This  move- 
ment is  the  legitimate  growth  of  the  Protestant  principle  of  the  authority 
of  the  individual  soul  in  religious  affairs.  It  originated,  and  has  gained  its 
most  complete  development,  in  the  Protestant  Church  of  Germany  ;  but  has 
now  invaded  the  Protestantism  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States. 
In  Europe,  many  of  its  ablest  disciples  have  retained  their  position  in  the 
Protestant  Evangelical  Church.  In  the  United  States,  they  have  been 
driven  into  the  various  liberal  churches  and  organizations  and  isolated  posi- 
tions which  are  the  protest  of  America  against  the  despotic  Evangelicism 
that  has  hitherto  ruled  the  land.  In  this  party  are  enrolled  a  fair  propor- 
tion of  the  world's  most  eminent  scholars  and  thinkers  of  every  profession, 
and  it  will  bear  comparison  with  any  division  of  the  church  in  respect  to 
Christian  character. 

This  party  in  Christendom  declares  that  the  Bible  should  not  only  be 
read  by  all  men,  but  subjected  to  every  test  to  which  human  compositions 
are  exposed.  It  treats  this  collection  of  ancient  documents  like  all  other 
documents  transmitted  from  antiquity.  By  a  searching  historical  analysis, 
it  endeavors  to  ascertain  their  origin,  genuineness,  date,  and  authorship.  It 
examines  the  contents  of  the  Book  by  scientific  tests.  Their  history  is  tried 
by  the  highest  law  of  historical  criticism  ;  their  poetry  by  the  best  standard 
of  poetic  judgment ;  their  philosophy  by  the  most  approved  philosophical 
methods  ;  their  politics  by  the  best  political  ideas  of  the  time  ;  their  science 
is  confronted  with  the  whole  array  of  modern  discovery ;  the  characters  and 
conduct  therein  described  are  judged  by  the  highest  examples  of  manhood 
and  womanhood ;  their  systems  of  religion  by  the  final  test  of  all  religions : 
their  ability  to  permanently  satisfy  the  deepest  wants  of  humanity.  While, 
on  the  one  hand,  the  scientific  method  condemns  that  ignorant  prejudice 
which  would  reject  the  Bible  without  examination,  it  as  surely  condemns 
that  theological  assumption  of  infallibility  which  would  separate  this  series 
cf  books  from  all  literature,  and  demand  a  prostration  of  human  reason 
before  them  in  the  very  act  of  examination.  It  claims  that  man  is  as 
competent  to  examine  the  Bible  as  any  other  phenomenon  that  attracts  his 
attention  in  this  world  ;  and  after  the  most  comprehensive  research  of  which 


THE   BIBLE.  45 

he  is  capable  in  the  premises,  must  accept  what  commends  itself  to  his  nature 
as  true,  until  further  light  appears. 

The  scientific  interpretation  of  the  Bible  is  yet  in  its  infancy ;  practically 
not  half  a  century  old  in  Germany,  it  is  dawning  upon  England  and 
America.  It  would  be  premature  for  the  most  learned  man  to  predict  its 
final  results.  It  may,  however,  be  safely  affirmed,  that  the  popular  theory 
of  the  Protestant  Evangelical  Church  of  the  last  century,  that  the  Bible  is 
verbally  and  infallibly  inspired  by  God,  is  forever  destroyed.  This  assump- 
tion will  still  remain  the  corner-stone  of  thousands  of  pulpits  in  Christen- 
dom, and  large  masses  of  uninstructed  Christians  will  continue  to  be  rallied 
by  theological  zealots  for  its  intolerant  assertion.  But  the  theory  is  as  dead 
as  the  Ptolemaic  system  of  Astronomy  in  the  highest  circles  of  scientific 
religious  thought.  The  ablest  Evangelical  thinkers  are  adjusting  themselves 
to  this  inevitable  fact.  Swedenborg  beheld  its  coming  afar  off,  and  fled 
from  it  into  the  covert  of  a  double  interpretation.  The  Orthodox  divines 
are  now  every  where  engaged  in  fitting  the  Bible  to  science,  and  construct- 
ing new  theories  in  which  the  infallibility  of  the  Book  shall  be  preserved 
after  its  plenary  inspiration  is  gone.  All  these  adjustments  are  temporary, 
because  the  true  science  of  Biblical  interpretation  is  yet  in  a  process  of 
formation.  Much  of  the  world's  best  mind  and  heart  is  now  engrossed  in 
this  tremendous  problem  ;  and  no  man  can  safely  decide  what  relation  the 
Bible  will  finally  assume  to  the  Christian  life  of  the  nations. 

But  we  apprehend  no  final  damage  to  the  fundamental  truth  of  Christi- 
anity, or  hindrance  to  the  religious  progress  of  the  race.  Erroneous  sys- 
tems about  the  Bible  will  die,  but  the  truth  about  it  will  be  a  better  thing 
for  man  than  any  error,  however  sanctified  by  the  reverence  of  Christen- 
dom. The  true  attitude  for  every  thoughtful  man  on  the  whole  subject  is, 
to  assert  the  largest  freedom  of  popular  use  and  scientific  investigation ;  to 
protest  against  the  ignorant  assumptions  of  religious  and  irreligious  men  ;  to 
obtain  the  best  aids  within  his  reach,  and  with  their  help  study  the  Bible, 
and  apply  to  his  own  life  every  precept  and  example  the  highest  voice  of 
his  nature  accepts  as  true  and  good ;  to  avoid  hasty  theories  and  rash  judg- 
ments on  a  subject  where  the  greatest  minds  are  least  inclined  to  dogmatize ; 
and  to  trust  in  God  that  this  science  of  Biblical  interpretation,  like  every 
other  true  science,  will  prove  a  blessing  to  mankind ;  remembering  that 
religion  derives  its  authority  from  no  book,  and  that  Christianity  is  fatally 
implicated  in  no  Catholic,  Evangelical,  or  Liberal  theory ;  but  both  are 
rooted  in  human  nature  and  share  the  immortality  of  the  soul. 

This  is  the  only  system  of  Biblical  interpretation  that  will  permanently 
claim  the  approval  of  the  present  age.  As  a  minister  of  the  Christian 
religion,  I  have  studied  the  Bible  in  this  manner,  and  arrived  at  certain 
general  conclusions  concerning  it.  I  will  briefly  state  the  manner  in  which 
I  use  the  Scriptures  —  not  speaking  for  any  sect,  but  as  an  independent 
Christian  preacher,  bound  to  impart  my  present  convictions  to  my  fellow 
men. 

I  believe  that  God  dwells  in  every  intelligent  spirit  and  inspires  every 
soul  according  to  its  capacity  and  fidelity  to  its  highest  faculties  and  convic- 
tions. I  acknowledge  many  degrees,  but  only  one  kind  of  Divine  Inspira- 
tion —  this  direct  presence  of  the  Infinite  Spirit  in  every  human  soul.  This 
influence  is  most  evident  in  the  religious  experience  of  man,  because  religion 
is  his  most  sacred  interest.  It  is  preeminent  in  some  men  because  of  their 
superior  natural  constitution  and  fidehty  in  its  use.  It  is  seen  most  emi- 
nently in  those  prophetic  souls  which  are  the  true  leaders  of  the  race  in 
religious  ideas  and  examples. 


46  THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

In  like  manner,  peoples,  nations,  races,  are  inspired  by  God,  each  accord 
ing  to  its  natural  capacity  and  fidelity  to  its  light.  The  races  that  have 
been  most  gifted  with  the  religious  conformation,  have  been  the  leading 
powers  in  the  world's  civilization.  Humanity  is  perpetually  inspired  by  the 
indwelling  spirit  of  God ;  and  the  inspiration  of  all  individuals  and  races 
is  made  to  serve  its  highest  necessities. 

The  final  test  of  all  inspiration  is  the  adaptation  of  its  results  to  human 
nature.  Whatever  truth  permanently  meets  and  satisfies  my  highest  spir- 
itual needs  must  be  my  religion ;  whatever  ideas  develope  the  best  life  of 
a  people  must  be  its  religion ;  whatever  faith  receives  the  final  and  mature 
approbation  of  humanity,  must  be  accepted  as  true  until  a  better  revelation 
appears.  The  chief  record  of  the  soul's  religious  inspiration  is  in  the  life 
of  mankind  ;  the  books  that  contain  the  account  of  the  different  steps  of 
its  progress  in  religion  are  the  sacred  books  of  the  world.  The  book  we 
call  the  Bible  contains  a  record  of  the  highest  religious  experience  of  man. 

The  Bible  is  a  series  of  sixty-six  books,  containing  the  best  records  ex- 
tant of  the  Hebrew  people,  and  the  most  reliable  account  of  the  origin  of 
Christianity.  It  contains  all  that  is  essential  to  the  comprehension  of  the 
religious  character  and  ideas  of  that  nation,  which  has  done  more  for  man 
than  any  people  of  antiquity.  It  presents  the  original  principles  and  exam- 
ples of  that  Christian  religion  which  is  the  highest  revelation  of  God  to 
man. 

The  Old  Testament  is  the  Hebrew  Bible.  It  contains  thirty-nine  books. 
The  authorship  of  many  of  these  documents  is  uncertain,  and  the  precise  date 
of  their  composition  undecided.  But  it  is  certain  that  a  century  and  a  half 
before  the  time  of  Jesus  this  collection  was  received  as  the  national  Bible 
by  the  Jews ;  and  many  good  scholars  claim  that  it  existed  in  its  present  form 
three  or  four  hundred  and  fifty  years  before  Christ.  It  is  highly  probable 
that  after  the  return  of  the  Jews  from  their  exile,  the  Priesthood  gathered 
the  entire  remains  of  the  ancient  national  literature  into  a  collection,  which, 
by  further  additions  and  gradual  use,  became  the  Bible  of  the  people.  The 
Old  Testament  is,  therefore,  the  most  ancient  literary  remains  of  this  re- 
markable nation.  It  contains  their  ancient  chronicles,  their  code  of  laws, 
their  poetry,  philosophy,  romance,  prophecy  and  religion ;  constituting  a 
most  vivid  picture  of  the  national  life.  Though,  of  course,  these  documents 
must  be  treated  like  all  other  ancient  literature,  yet,  after  critical  subtrac- 
tions, they  can  be  relied  on  for  a  singularly  accurate  picture  of  the  Hebrew 
people.  We  may  be  unable  to  accept  much  of  their  contents ;  but  there 
can  be  no  doubt  of  the  correctness  of  their  information  concerning  the  reli- 
gious ideas  of  the  Hebrews,  the  type  of  Hebrew  character,  or  the  style  of 
civilization  into  which  they  flowed. 

Read  in  this  spirit,  to  ascertain  the  religious  value  of  the  Hebrew  nation 
to  mankind,  the  Old  Testament  is  full  of  instruction.  Of  all  the  peoples  of 
antiquity,  none  was  so  evidently  inspired  with  elevated  conceptions  of  reli- 
gion as  this.  The  unity  and  moral  government  of  the  Deity,  and  the  im- 
perative nature  of  human  obligation,  are  its  lessons  for  us.  In  no  system 
of  ancient  religion  were  these  facts  so  plainly  and  forcibly  taught  as  here. 
There  is  more  pure  morality,  exalted  piety,  and  instructive  example  con- 
densed in  these  thirty-nine  documents,  than  in  all  the  remaining  religious 
literature  of  antiquity ;  and  this  little  country  of  Palestine  has,  through  its 
religious  experience,  moved  the  human  race  more  profoundly  and  benefi- 
cially than  any  of  the  mighty  empires  of  the  old  time. 

But  the  lesson  of  this  Hebrew  civilization  is  to  be  learned  aright  only 


THE   BIBLE.  47 

when  we  study  the  Old  Testament  by  the  help  of  modern  criticism,  with  the 
full  use  of  our  best  reason  and  conscience,  with  perpetual  reference  to  the 
higher  Christian  civilization  in  which  we  live.  To  read  it  as  the  verbally 
and  infallibly  inspired  word  of  God;  to  break  it  up  into  texts,  and  use  them 
to  support  modern  systems  of  theology,  or  defend  barbarous  customs  which 
have  existed  since  the  creation,  because  man  is  still  a  half-civilized  being ; 
to  enforce  Jewish  ideas  of  science,  politics,  philosophy  and  society  on  a  re- 
publican community;  to  found  a  Christian  church  on  Hebrew  ideas  of 
religion,  is  not  only  to  stultify  the  reason,  but  to  outrage  the  conscience  of 
this  age.  To  insist  on  the  reading  of  this  Jewish  literature  in  the  common 
schools  of  America,  or  to  use  it  without  discrimination  in  the  education  of 
American  youth,  is  to  disown  the  higher  truth  God  has  given  us.  We  do 
not  wish  to  make  America  a  Hebrew  Monarchy,  but  a  Republic  founded 
on  the  Christian  idea  of  Love.  Use  the  Old  Testament  as  the  most  instruc- 
tive national  literature  of  antiquity,  and  every  page  glows  with  inspiring 
lessons.  But  the  inspiration  is  not  in  the  book,  it  was  in  the  Hebrew  race, 
and  the  greatest  souls  it  produced.  The  books  are  the  records  which  tell 
us  how  this  people  achieved  its  success  by  loyalty  to  its  best  ideas  of  right, 
and  fell  to  ruin  when  it  violated  the  higher  law  of  God ;  how  men  like 
Abraham,  Moses,  Samuel,  David,  Solomon,  Isaiah,  lived,  thought,  and  wrote. 
To  renounce  our  best  ideal  of  character  and  civilization  in  behalf  of  this 
people  is  a  sin  against  God  and  humanity ;  to  aifirm  that  this  series  of  books 
is  the  infallible  word  of  God,  is  to  insult  modern  culture  and  common  sense; 
to  study  the  Old  Testament  in  the  light  of  Christian  ideas  is  the  privilege 
of  every  wise  and  religious  mind. 

The  New  Testament  contains  the  most  valuable  documents  produced  dur- 
ing the  first  two  centuries  of  Christianity,  and  is  the  most  reliable  account 
we  possess  of  the  origin  and  organization  of  the  religion  that  now  rules 
every  civilized  people.  It  contains  twenty-seven  books,  including  four 
biographies  of  Jesus  Christ ;  one  account  of  the  early  planting  of  tlis  re- 
ligion ;  fourteen  letters  ascribed  to  Paul ;  seven  letters  ascribed  to  James, 
John,  Peter  and  Jude  ;  and  a  poetical  rhapsody  on  the  triumph  of  Christi- 
anity, ascribed  to  John. 

For  the  last  fifty  years,  the  highest  thought  of  the  world  has  been  occu- 
pied with  the  critical  examination  of  these  books.  Much  that  was  once 
claimed  for  them  has  been  overthrown,  yet  these  facts  remain,  that  certainly 
at  the  close  of  the  second  century,  the  most  important  of  these  documents 
were  in  use  among  the  Christian  believers ;  and  from  this  period,  less  relia- 
ble but  strong  testimonies  conduct  us  nearly  to  the  age  of  the  Apostles ; 
that  they  are  the  best  books  thrown  up  by  the  first  two  centuries  of  Chris- 
tianity ;  that  from  them  an  honest  reader  can  ascertain  the  great  ideas  of 
Christianity,  and  the  character  of  its  founder  and  his  earliest  disciples. 
We  may  say,  in  short,  that  these  twenty-seven  books  are  the  only  satisfac- 
tory explanation  of  the  origin  of  that  religion  which  has  converted  the 
nations  as  fast  as  they  have  emerged  from  barbarism,  and  is  evidently 
destined  to  be  the  faith  of  the  human  race. 

As  such  an  explanation,  we  must  read  the  New  Testament  by  the  help 
of  modern  criticism,  with  the  entire  use  of  our  reason  and  conscience,  test- 
ing its  ideas  and  examples  by  their  actual  result  on  mankind,  and  their  power 
to  satisfy  the  deepest  needs  of  the  human  soul.  The  assertion  that  these 
books  are  verbally  and  infallibly  inspired  is  a  pure  assumption,  unsupported 
by  their  contents  or  any  reliable  proof  The  inspiration  is  not  in  the  book, 
but  was  in  the  soul  of  Jesus,  and  the  great  men  who  proclaimed  and  organ- 


48  THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

ized  His  faith.  The  book  is  the  account  of  these  characters  related  in  the 
style  of  their  age,  and  should  be  read  with  the  exercise  of  the  best  modern 
judgment. 

The  Church  has  constructed  a  system  of  theology,  called  "The  Sacrificial 
Plan  of  Salvation,"  and  commands  men  to  find  it  in  the  New  Testament 
on  pain  of  hell.  It  cannot  be  found  in  the  book,  even  with  the  help  of  the 
Church  theory  of  verbal  inspiration.  It  certainly  cannot  be  forced  into  the 
Scriptures  when  studied  by  the  use  of  our  best  human  faculties.  The  New- 
Testament  is  therefore  not  responsible  for  that  half-Pagan  plan  of  salvation, 
which  resolves  God  into  an  Oriental  Despot,  and  man  into  a  native  demon, 
and  Jesus  into  a  shadowy  myth,  and  this  world  into  a  prison,  and  the 
future  world  into  a  universe  where  the  Deity  and  Satan  govern  rival  prov- 
inces, and  the  moral  creation  into  an  eternal  contradiction.  This  scheme  is 
the  conceit  of  the  scholastic  Theologians  of  the  middle  ages,  the  worst 
"  Papal  relic,"  handed  piously  down  and  enshrined  in  the  Protestant  Evan- 
gelical Church  of  to-day.  The  Christian  believer  in  thirty  thousand  Ameri- 
can Protestant  Churches  is  now  commanded  to  look  at  Christianity  through 
this  creed,  as  children  gaze  at  the  sun  through  a  smoked  glass,  with  a 
similar  result,  —  that  both  the  sun  and  the  Deity  appear  in  a  state  of  lurid 
eclipse.     [Applause.] 

Therefore  let  no  man  be  repelled  from  the  New  Testament  by  the  idea 
that  it  is  responsible  for  the  sacrificial  plan  of  salvation.  Leaving  that  bar- 
barous scheme  with  its  defenders,  let  every  man  who  would  learn  Chris- 
tianity read  the  life  of  Jesus  with  the  full  exercise  of  all  his  faculties,  and 
test  his  words  and  character  by  their  effects  on  those  whose  lives  are  guided 
by  his  law  of  love.  There  he  will  find  Christianity  in  its  few  simple  ideas ; 
the  unity,  spirituality,  and  paternity  of  God ;  the  spirituality,  native  dignity, 
and  immortality  of  man  ;  the  sanctity  of  human  obligation  ;  the  omnipotence 
of  love  in  the  moral  universe.  There  he  will  find  Christianity  incarnate  in 
the  character  of  Jesus ;  a  character  still  ages  ahead  of  the  world's  best  civi- 
lization, which  the  greatest  and  purest  souls  most  reverently  love  and  follow. 
And  he  will  not  wonder  that  such  a  character,  through  this  weight  of  ideas 
and  example,  should  have  become  the  best  religious  teacher  to  humanity,  its 
saviour  from  superstition  and  sin,  its  brightest  manifestation  of  God. 

Having  read  up  to  some  worthy  apprehension  of  Jesus  and  his  idea  of 
religion,  we  can  intelligently  read  of  the  planting  of  Christianity  by  its  earli- 
est Apostles.  The  chief  interest  in  this  history  will  centre  about  Paul,  the 
best  preacher  and  organizer  of  the  faith.  While  the  majority  of  the  early 
friends  of  Jesus  supposed  his  rehgion  was  only  a  new  form  of  Judaism, 
Paul  knew  it  was  a  universal  form  of  religion,  and  with  a  marvellous  execu- 
tive wisdom  planted  it  in  the  chief  cities  of  the  Roman  Empire.  Paul  was 
not  a  doctor  of  divinity,  or  an  ecclesiastical  saint,  but  a  great  man  of  action, 
the  early  statesman  who  organized  the  Christian  religion  so  admirably  that 
in  four  centuries  it  scaled  the  summits  of  the  Imperial  Power,  and  became 
the  state  religion  of  the  world.  We  must  read  his  life  and  that  of  his  asso- 
ciates, not  to  cut  up  their  living  words  into  a  set  of  theological  charms,  but 
to  ascertain  what  they  thought  and  did,  testing  their  ideas  and  characters  by 
Him  around  whom  they  clung,  like  a  group  of  loving  children  about  a 
father's  honored  form.  The  best  of  them  did  not  pretend  to  fully  under- 
stand Jesus  Christ  or  Christianity.  Indeed,  the  New  Testament  tells  what 
the  contemporaries  and  followers  of  Jesus  thought  of  him  and  his  religion. 
We  have  (heir  estimate,  and  the  additional  record  of  eighteen  centuries'  expe- 
rience of  the  operation  of  Christianity/.     The  most  intelligent  Chiistian 


THE    BIBLE.  49 

to-day  knows  Jesus  and  his  religion  better  than  any  man  or  woman  of  the 
primitive  church. 

The  glorious  range  of  mountains  that  has  named  Vermont  is  not  best 
known  to  him  who  was  born  and  has  always  lived  by  the  base  of  its  highest 
peak ;  but  we  wlio  contemplate  it  from  afar,  can  behold  the  long  ridges, 
rooted  in  everlasting  foundations,  linking  States  with  its  azure  chain,  now 
dropping  into  lovely  valleys,  now  soaring  up  to  sublime  summits,  whence  an 
ocean  of  tossing  forests  waves  beneath  the  eye.  So  to  the  men  of  our  latter 
days  does  Jesus  tower  above  the  eminences  of  time's  grandest  peaks  of 
that  mountain  range  of  Christianity  whence  flow  the  streams  that  refresh 
the  world ;  encircled  by  the  widest  horizon,  gilded  earliest  by  the  rising  sun 
of  God's  eternal  love.     [Loud  applause.] 

Such  is  my  view  of  the  Scriptures.  I  read  the  Old  Testament  as  the 
best  record  extant  of  the  life  of  that  Hebrew  nation  which  was  inspired  to 
preserve  the  highest  form  of  religion  in  ancient  times.  I  read  the  New 
Testament  as  the  best  record  extant  of  the  life  of  Jesus  and  the  early  his- 
tory of  Christianity.  I  believe  these  are  human  records ;  yet  I  believe 
they  can  be  relied  on  for  the  great  facts  and  examples  of  both  the  Hebrew 
and  Christian  religion.  My  Bible  is  the  Life  of  Jesus.  My  religion  is  the 
idea  of  God,  man,  duty,  and  destiny,  which  I  find  in  his  words  and  life  ;  and 
I  value  the  Bible  as  the  earliest  literary  record  of  this  religion  of  spiritu- 
ality and  love.  Standing  in  America  to-day,  I  observe  two  facts:  one 
stream  of  Christian  literature  widening  down  the  ages  from  the  New  Testa- 
ment ;  one  stream  of  Christian  life  pouring  from  the  age  of  the  first  CaBsars, 
of  which  this  literature  gives  the  only  adequate  account.  Such  an  idea  of 
religion  as  pervades  this  literature,  such  a  type  of  character  as  comes  of 
this  life,  were  never  before  felt  as  a  power  in  the  world.  They  are  the 
glory  of  the  present  and  the  hope  of  the  future.  Civilization  is  bound  up 
with  the  prevalence  of  such  facts  as  the  spirituality  and  paternity  of  God ; 
the  spirituality  and  immortality  of  man ;  the  omnipotence  of  the  law  of  love. 
I  follow  these  streams  back  eighteen  centuries  to  where  they  arise  from  one 
matchless  character.  Centuries  above  our  present  civilization,  I  study  that 
character  with  ever  new  reverence  and  delight.  While  I  prostrate  my  soul 
before  no  being  that  has  dwelt  in  clay,  I  find  in  what  I  comprehend  of  Jesus 
enough  to  fill  me  with  a  reverence  for  Him  second  only  to  that  I  pay  to  God. 
I  cannot  discover  error  in  his  teaching  or  a  flaw  in  his  character,  though 
he  never  claimed  infallibility.  The  man  who  sets  him  aside  is  bound  to 
furnish  another  character  whose  doctrines  and  example  will  stand  the  shock 
of  eighteen  centuries  and  still  blossom  in  the  dewy  freshness  of  youth.  As 
I  read  his  best  words,  I  find  the  explanation  of  literature ;  his  life  solves  the 
darkest  problems  of  human  experience.  The  best  in  me  responds  to  Him ; 
and  the  deeper  I  sink  towards  that  awful  and  lovely  spirit  on  whose  waves 
my  bark  of  life  rocks  evermore,  the  more  do  I  feel  united  to  his  wondrous 
soul.  In  Jesus  do  I  behold  the  highest  example  of  that  inspiring  presence 
of  God  which,  absent  from  no  spirit,  has  culminated  in  Him ;  that  man  may 
have  his  own  nature  is  of  God  Almighty ;  his  sole  virtue  the  dutiful  com- 
munion with  the  infinite  spirit ;  his  destiny  an  eternal  approach  towards 
Him  who  is  above  all,  through  all,  and  in  all ;  the  one  ineffable  Love. 

Mr.  GooDELL  rose  and  expressed  a  desire  to  present  to  the  Convention 
some  thoughts  on  the  same  subject,  but  he  was  called  to  order  by  the  chair, 
who  stated  that  according  to  the  programme  of  the   Business   Committee, 
addresses  would  now  be  delivered  by  two  trance  speakers. 
4 


50  THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

Mr.  GoODELL  said  he  supposed  this  was  a  meeting  for  free  discussion, 
and  he  came  here  for  that  purpose. 

S.  S.  Foster  wished  to  know  if  the  Convention  had  voted  that  they 
would  devote  the  evening  to  communications  from  the  other  world. 

The  President  said,  that  the  Convention  had  appointed  a  committee  to 
prepare  the  business  that  was  to  come  before  it.  That  committee,  in  the 
performance  of  their  duty,  had  submitted  a  programme  for  the  day,  and  he 
hoped  that  the  Convention  would  adhere  to  the  programme,  or  discharge 
their  committee. 

The  remainder  of  the  evening  was  occupied  by  addresses  from  two  trance 
speakers, — Miss  Helen  Temple,  of  Bennington,  Vt.,  and  Miss  A.  W. 
Sprague,  of  Plymouth,  Vt.,  —  and  by  songs  from  the  Harmonial  Glee 
Club.  At  ten  o'clock,  the  Convention  adjourned,  to  meet  on  Saturday 
mornings  at  eight  o'clock.    [See  Appendix,  p.  178.] 


SECOND  DAT  — SATURDAY. 
FORENOON    SESSION. 

The  Convention  was  called  to  order  at  eight  o'clock,  and  the  President 
announced  the  programme  for  the  day,  and  that,  in  accordance  with  it,  the 
ten-minutes'  rule  would  be  in  force  until  ten  o'clock. 

The  President  then  introduced  Dr.  H.  S.  Brown,  of  Clarendon,  Vt., 
who  spoke  to  the  first  resolution  of  the  series :  — 

Resolved,  That  the  authority  of  each  individual  soul  is  absolute  and  final,  in  deciding 
questions  as  to  what  is  true  or  false  in  principle,  and  right  or  wrong  in  practice  ;  there- 
fore, the  individual,  the  church,  or  the  state,  that  attempts  to  control  the  opinions  or  the 
practices  of  any  man  or  woman,  by  an  authority  or  power  outside  of  his  or  her  own  soul, 
is  guilty  of  a  flagrant  wrong. 

Dr.  Brown  said — I  wish  to  dissent  from  the  principles  laid  down  in 
that  resolution  ;  and  in  doing  so,  I  wish  to  present  laws  to  regulate  the 
intercourse  of  man  with  man,  individual  with  individual.  We  have  met 
here  in  a  Free  Convention,  of  all  minds  and  ways.  There  is  the  Woman's 
Rights  idea  here ;  there  is  the  Anti-Slavery  idea  here  ;  there  is  the  Work- 
ing-Men's idea  here  ;  there  are  various  ideas,  all  represented  in  this  Con- 
vention. It  was  got  up  for  this  especial  purpose.  We  have  met  to  exchange 
thoughts  upon  all  these  various  questions  which  agitate  the  public  at  this 
time.  What  I  wish  to  do  now  is  to  present  some  laws  for  the  consideration  of 
this  Convention,  that  we  may  make  a  foundation.  How  shall  we  combine 
the  different  elements  of  this  Convention,  and  make  a  whole  that  shall  be 
powerful?  Where  shall  we  strike?  For  what  object  ?  Where  is  the  best 
place  to  strike  ?  How  shall  we  proceed,  and  what  shall  be  the  regulating 
movements  of  that  procedure  ?  Many  persons  have  addressed  the  Conven- 
tion upon  this  subject,  and  they  think  we  should  go  against  the  pulpit, 
against  the  Bible,  and  against  religion,  in  a  certain  popular  sense.  I  wish 
to  say  that  I  do  not  believe  the  most  powerful,  the  most  potent,  and  the  most 
effective  blows  can  be  struck  in  that  direction.  I  believe  that  they  must  be 
struck  in  a  different  direction.  Let  me  say  to  this  Convention,  that  in  my 
estimation,  if  we  would  strike  the  heaviest  blow  at  wrong,  we  must  strike 


AUTHORITY    VS.    CONVICTION.  51 

where  we  feel  the  wrong.  When  a  person  comes  to  me  for  taxes,  I  want  to 
know  what  they  are  for.  What  is  the  tax-gatherer  here  for,  with  the 
demand,  —  "I  will  take  your  person  or  your  property — I  will  appropriate 
it  to  a  certain  purpose  !  "  What  is  that  purpose  ?  "Why,"  he  says,  "to 
sustain  the  government.'*  Well,  then,  is  it  not  of  the  utmost  importance 
that  we  have  just  government  ?  Shall  I  not  begin  by  saying  —  "  We  must 
have  a  just  government."  And  each  of  us  is  interested,  because  we  pay 
for  the  government ;  and  shall  we  not  make  a  just  one  ?  That  is  what  I 
wish  to  say  here.  We  have  laws.  Laws  are  said  to  be  the  "  perfection  of 
reason."  There  is  no  perfection  of  reason  in  human  nature.  We  must 
abandon  all  such  fanciful  ideas.  We  must  come  down  to  this,  that  law  is  a 
science ;  and  our  legislators,  under  present  arrangements,  cannot  use  the 
perfection  of  their  reason,  nor  have  the  light  to  make  the  best  laws.  When 
the  geologist,  the  botanist,  or  the  astronomer,  wishes  to  map  out  his  laws, 
he  goes  into  his  silent  room  or  study,  where  there  is  no  club  law,  as  in  Con- 
gress, no  previous  question,  as  in  legislatures,  and  no  bribery,  such  as  we 
sometimes  hear  of,  to  influence  his  judgment,  and  there  investigates  and 
defines  his  laws.  But  under  our  present  arrangements,  you  know  we  must 
vary  from  the  true  law  ;  but  if  we  retire  to  our  studies,  then  we  may 
bring  forth  a  science.  If  I  fail  to  tell  you  what  is  true  in  this  matter,  I 
want  to  put  a  plan  before  you  for  you  to  consider,  and  correct,  adopt,  or 
reject,  and  put  something  better  in  its  place. 

We  are  all  agreed  in  tliis  one  matter,  —  that  there  is  something  wrong  in 
the  laws.  Well,  if  there  is  something  wrong  there,  let  us  right  it.  We 
are  all  taxed  to  pay  for  these  wrongs,  and  that  is  a  potent  stimulus  for  us  to 
seek  out  a  remedy.  Now,  if  1  begin  here,  it  seems  to  me  that  I  need  only 
touch  the  pockets  of  every  person  present,  with  their  consciousness  of  right, 
and  I  touch  their  feelings,  where  every  man  is  interested ;  and  so  I  begin  a 
system.     Now,  to  see  what  is  the  law  which  I  would  propose. 

In  the  first  place,  all  citizens  must  have  certain  qualifications  to  become 
voters  ;  that  principle  is  pretty  much  settled  on  the  right  plan  here.  Now, 
I  come  to  the  qualifications  of  voters.  This  is  an  important  principle 
which  we  have  in  our  laws,  where  I  think  there  is  a  necessity  for  a  change ; 
and  I  put  this  law  before  you,  not  as  the  correct  law,  but  to  be  considered, 
and  made  right  if  it  is  wrong.  Now,  I  will  read  the  first  proposition  in 
regard  to  voters :  — 

"  All  citizens  of  twenty  years  of  age  and  over,  who  have  resided  in  the 
State  one  year,  and  in  the  town,  precinct,  or  ward,  six  months  previous  to 
offering  their  votes,  and  are  residing  there  at  the  time,  of  sound  mind,  and 
not  criminals,  and  who  can  read  and  write,  shall  have  the  right  to  vote,  and 
have  the  right  to  hold  office  in  the  government,  when  legally  elected." 

There  is  one  proposition.  Is  it  a  proposition  that  lays  the  foundation  for 
a  government  that  is  right  ?  That  is  what  we  want.  Shall  we  have  per- 
sons twenty  years  old  as  voters  ?  Shall  we  require  them  to  be  able  to  read 
and  write?  Shall  \ve  have  them  of  sound  mind?  —  and  so  on.  Here,  then, 
is  fhe  first  proposition,  and  I  lay  it  before  the  Convention  for  their  considera- 
tion. 

Now,  we  know  we  often  have  voters  who  are  not  entitled  to  vote.  We 
need  to  have  a  law  by  which  the  voters  may,  with  the  greatest  accuracy,  be 
known;  that  is  to  say,  to  prevent  frauds  in  election.  Here  is  a  wrong; 
let  us  plant  a  law  against  it.  This  being  the  idea,  I  put  this  law  down,  to 
see  if  we  can  plant  it  against  that  wrong,  in  such  a  way  as  to  prevent  the 


52  THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

Henry  C.  "Wright  then  took  the  floor,  but  yielded  it  to  Mrs.  Julia 
Branch,  of  New  York,  who  spoke  to  the  following  resolution  :  — 

Resolved,  That  the  only  true  and  natural  marriage  is  an  exclusive  conjugal  love 
between  one  man  and  one  woman,  and  the  only  true  home  is  the  isolated  home,  based 
upon  this  exclusive  love. 

ADDRESS  OF  MRS.  JULIA  BRANCH. 

Mr.  President :  —  I  wish  to  make  a  few  remarks  in  regard  to  this  reso- 
lution. 

To  my  mind,  it  means  nothing,  or  is  entirely  incomprehensive.  I  am 
aware  that  I  have  chosen  almost  a  forbidden  subject,  forbidden  from  the  fact 
that  any  one  that  can  and  dare  look  the  marriage  question  in  the  face,  and 
openly  denounce  the  marriage  institution  as  the  sole  cause  of  Avoman's  deg- 
radation and  misery,  is  an  object  of  scorn,  of  suspicion,  and  opprobrious 
epithets. 

I  ask  of  that  now,  as  I  did  formerly  of  the  church,  is  it  so  sacred  that  it 
cannot  be  questioned  ?  Is  it  so  absolute,  in  truth,  that  it  defies  argu- 
ment ? 

Lucy  Stone  said  to  me,  at  the  recent  "  Woman's  Rights  Convention,"  held 
in  New  York,  — "  The  marriage  question  will  and  must  some  day  be  dis- 
cussed." I  asked,  "  Why  are  you  not  willing  tha't  it  should  be  discussed 
now  and  here  ?  "  She  did  not  think  it  a  proper  place  ;  their  platform  was 
not  a  free  one ;  they  wished  the  rights  of  woman  settled  in  regard  to  voting, 
then  that  would  settle  all  other  rights. 

I  asked,  "  How  can  she  have  the  right  to  vote  when  she  has  not  even  the 
right  to  her  name  in  the  marriage  bonds !  "  She  said,  "  It  is  a  mistaken 
idea  that  woman  is  obliged  to  give  up  her  name  and  take  that  of  her  hus- 
band by  the  ceremony.  I  have  not  given  up  mine,  and  no  law  can  compel 
me  to.     I  call  myself  Lucy  Stone,  and  shall  always." 

How  would  it  have  been  with  Mrs.  Blackwell,  if  she  had  kept  the  fact  of 
the  marriage  ceremony  a  secret,  and  gone  to  a  hotel  with  the  intention  of 
staying  a  few  days  with  Mr.  Blackwell,  signing  her  name  Lucy  Stone  ? 
Would  they  have  been  permitted  to  occupy  one  room  ?  What  do 
you  suppose  would  have  been  the  astonishment  of  the  virtuous  landlord  at 
such  a  proceeding,  and  what  would  have  been  his  answer  ?  Mrs.  Lucy 
Stone  Blackwell,  and  every  one  else,  knows  the  act  would  be  sufficient  to 
denounce  her,  in  the  eyes  of  society,  as  an  infamous  woman. 

The  marriage  ceremony  is  necessary  to  keep  woman  virtuous  and  respect- 
able, and  all  intercourse  with  man  out  of  its  holy  rites  renders  her  an  out- 
cast and  a  thing  to  be  despised.  Is  it  because  she  is  naturally  wicked  and 
vicious,  that  bonds  are  placed  upon  her  ?  Has  she  no  nature  that  may  not 
be  proscribed  and  estimated  by  man  law-makers  ?  Has  she  no  inborn  right 
that  belongs  to  herself?  As  she  stands  before  the  world  now,  she  has  none. 
She  has  not  even  that  kind  compliment  that  is  paid  to  man  in  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States,  "  that  man  is  endowed  with  certain  inalienable 
rights."  And  to  the  marriage  ceremony,  I  say,  she  is  indebted  for  her 
wrongs,  her  aching  heart,  her  chains,  her  slavery.  Woman  must  strike  the 
blow,  if  she  would  be  free,  and  become  the  equal  of  man. 

You  speak  of  her  right  to  labor,  her  right  to  preach,  her  right  to  teach, 
her  right  to  vote,  and  lastly,  though  not  least,  her  right  to  get  married,  but 
do  you  say  any  thing  about  her  right  to  love,  when  she  will,  where  she  will, 
and  how  she  will  ?     Yes,  here  is  a  stipulation  for  her  in  this  resolution. 


THE    MARRIAGE    QUESTION.  53 

She  is  to  have  an  isolated  household,  with  an  exclusive  conjugal  love. 
This  is  very  pretty  in  sentiment,  and  Moore  beautifully  expresses  it  in  his 
"  File- Worshippers  " :  — 

**  Oft,  in  my  fancy's  wanderings, 
I  *ve  wished  that  little  isle  had  wings  ; 
And  we,  within  its  fairy  bowers, 

Were  wafted  off  to  seas  unknown  ; 
Where  not  a  pulse  should  beat  but  ours, 

And  we  might  live,  love,  die  alone  ! 
Far  from  the  cruel  and  the  cold,  — 

Where  the  bright  eyes  of  angels  only, 
Should  come  around  us,  to  behold 

A  paiadise  so  pure  and  lonely." 

But  this  will  not  do  for  practical  life,  where  man  and  woman  work  from 
ten  to  eighteen  hours  out  of  the  twenty-four.  The  working  class  are  by  far 
the  larger  class,  and  the  isolated  household  is  the  worst  place  in  the  world 
for  them.  The  man  comes  home  to  his  meals,  which  are  set  on  the  table 
amid  crying  children,  and  the  sickly,  desponding  face  of  his  wife ;  there  is 
no  social  life ;  even  the  exclusive  conjugal  love  which  bound  them  together 
in  the  marriage  ceremony,  has  long  since  settled  into  the  mildest  form  of 
friendship.  The  enthusiasm,  and  ardor,  and  poetry,  and  sacredness,  are  for- 
ever destroyed  by  the  daily  familiarity  in  the  isolated  household.  Just  as 
woman  is  isolated  and  confined  within  the  narrow  limits  of  a  home,  just  so 
will  her  offspring  be  narrow-minded,  bigoted  and  selfish  ;  just  as  she  is  free 
in  her  thoughts,  her  affections  making  her  home  wherever  she  chooses,  just 
so  will  her  children  be  broad  and  expansive  in  their  ideas,  noble,  and  great, 
and  honorable  in  virtuous  deed,  benevolent  in  heart,  and  tolerant  in  all 
things,  however  opposite  to  them,  because  they  feel  within  that  they  have 
not  only  the  perfections,  but  imperfections  of  humanity. 

We  have  lived  in  the  ideal  life  too  long;  we  want  something  practical. 
We  have  planted  rank  weeds,  and  are  cultivating  them  with  as  much  nicety 
as  we  would  beautiful  flowers.  We  have  gone  down  into  hidden  lore  and 
lived  in  the  ages  of  the  past,  as  though  the  present  was  too  weak  to  bear  the 
weight  of  our  thoughts.  We  crawl  on  our  hands  and  knees  in  the  childhood 
of  knowledge,  fearing  to  rise  lest  the  weight  of  our  brains  should  topple  us 
over.  We  live  in  dead  men's  graves,  waiting  for  some  angel  to  roll  away 
the  stone  and  give  us  life  and  liberty,  in  individuality. 

Let  me  draw  a  picture  of  the  isolated  home,  and  one  that  came  under  my 
own  observation.  See  the  woman  with  a  careworn  face ;  long  lines  of  grief 
have  made  deep  furrows ;  her  thin  hand  and  shrivelled  figure,  her  dejected, 
weary  air,  her  desponding  tones,  tell  of  something  that  must  lie  heavy  at  the 
heart.  Surely,  never  Christ  bearing  the  great  heavy  cross  up  to  crucifixion 
could  feel  the  deep  woe  that  presses  against  her  soul.  "  Ah  me  ! "  comes 
with  a  sad  sigh  as  we  lay  our  hand  upon  her  head.  Tell  us,  we  say.  And 
she  throws  open  the  inmost  recesses  of  her  soul,  and  tells  the  story  of  her 
life  ;  how  she  aspired  to  be  great  from  childhood  —  how  noble  thoughts  took 
possession  of  her  —  how  she  loved,  and  married  the  object  of  her  love  — 
how  dear  the  first-born  of  her  heart  grew  to  her  —  how  it  died,  and  she 
clothed  herself  in  the  habiliments  of  woe,  and  shut  out  the  light  of  day  in 
her  heart,  and  sat  down  alone  at  home,  without  friends,  or  hope,  or  consola- 
tion —  how  other  children  came  to  her,  but  they  did  not  fill  the  void  —  the 
black  veil  was  drawn  down  forever  between  her  and  happiness,  and  pinned 
to  the  soul  by  the  arrow  of  affliction  —  there  was  no  sympathy  in  the  world, 


54  THE    RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

and  she  longed  to  lie  down  in  the  grave  and  rest.  "VVe  brush  away  the  tears 
and  bid  her  hope  ;  hope  has  died  out ;  we  speak  of  husband  and  children  ; 
they  have  no  sympathy. 

"  Are  you  willing,"  we  ventured  to  ask,  "  to  look  for  one  moment  into  your 
soul  ?  "  "I  have  always  tried  to  do  right,  but  circumstances  were  against 
me.  My  husband  has  long  since  ceased  to  love  me,  although  he  presses 
upon  me  the  necessity  of  bearing  children  whenever  he  pleases.  My  chil- 
dren are  perverse  and  wayward,  and  I  don't  know  what  to  do  with  them. 
Some  people  go  right  through  the  world  always  light-hearted  and  happy.  I 
never  saw  an  unhappy  day  until  I  was  married."  "  But  of  yourself;  have 
you  never  thought  of  a  plan  whereby  you  might  be  relieved  from  these 
troubles?  "  "Oh,  yes,  of  many  ;  but  I  have  no  right  to  think  or  speak  my 
sentiments,  for  I  am  married  ;  if  I  do,  my  husband  says  it  is  better  for  me 
to  attend  to  the  domestic  affairs,  and  he  will  do  the  thinking.  He  deprives 
me  of  female  friends,  because  women  love  to  gossip  ;  of  male  friends,  for  the 
world  might  talk  about  it ;  besides,  he  says  a  mother  ought  always  to  be  at 
home  taking  care  of  her  house  and  children,  and  providing  for  her  husband's 
wants,  and  I  have  nothing  but  death ;  when  that  comes,  I  shall  go  where 
every  thing  will  be  bright  and  happy,  and  my  soul's  longings  will  be  satis- 
fied." 

Now  I  ask,  what  is  that  woman's  life  ?  Is  she  what  God  intended  she 
should  be  ?  No !  She  was  made  fair  and  beautiful  in  childhood^  given 
those  noble  aspirations  to  cultivate  in  the  garden  of  her  soul,  given  as  seeds 
for  the  dew  and  sunshine  to  ripen  into  beautiful  flowers.  What  did  she  do 
with  them  ?  Sold  them  with  herself  at  sixteen,  when  she  entered  into  the 
marriage  contract,  and  thus  bound  down  her  soul  forever.  In  her  isolated 
household  she  threw  away  her  life,  and  added  to  the  too-many  already  chil- 
dren, thrust  into  the  world  half  made  up  —  children  of  chance,  children  of 
lust,  —  abortions  who  feel  that  they  have  no  right  to  existence,  —  children 
of  disease,  whose  tainted  flesh  and  running  sores  are  a  disgrace  and  an  ever- 
lasting reproach  to  the  morals  and  purity  of  any  community. 

Byron  cursed  his  mother  for  his  deformed  foot ;  and  there  are  thousands 
and  thousands  of  children  cursing  the  sacred  name  of  mother  for  their  de- 
formed mental  and  moral  conditions. 

Mrs.  Gage,  Mrs.  Rose,  Mr.  Wright,  and  others,  go  back  to  the  mother's 
influence ;  I  go  a  step  further  back,  and  say  it  is  the  marriage  institution 
that  is  at  fault.  It  is  the  binding  marriage  ceremony  that  keeps  woman  de- 
graded in  mental  and  moral  slavery.  She  must  demand  her  freedom  ;  her 
right  to  receive  the  equal  wages  of  man  for  her  labor ;  her  right  to  bear 
children  when  she  will,  and  by  whom  she  will.  Woman  is  not  totally  de- 
praved. She  will  never  abuse  one  right  that  is  given  to  her,  and  she  will 
never  step  aside  from  her  own  nature.  If  she  desires  to  go  to  the  ballot- 
box,  it  is  because  there  is  a  wrong  somewhere,  and  she  takes  that  way  to 
right  it.  If  she  desires  to  become  a  lawyer,  is  is  because  there  are  laws  to 
be  redressed  and  made  better.  If  she  desires  to  preach,  it  is  because  she 
feels  the  woes  and  afflictions  of  humanity.  If  she  desires  rights,  it  is  be- 
cause she  needs  them.  I  believe  in  the  absolute  freedom  of  the  affections, 
and  that  it  is  woman's  privilege  —  aye,  her  right  —  to  accept  or  refuse  any 
love  that  comes  to  her.  She  should  be  the  ruling  power  in  all  matters  of 
love,,  and  when  the  love  has  died  out  for  the  man  who  has  taken  her  to  his 
heart,  she  is  living  a  lie  to  herself,  her  own  nature,  and  to  him,  if  she  con- 
tinues to  hold  an  intimate  relation  to  him.  And  so  is  man's  relative  posi- 
tion to  woman ;  when  his  love  has  died  out,  and  he  continues  to  live  with 


THE    MARRIAGE     QUESTION.  55 

his  wife  on  any  consideration,  he  strikes  a  blow  to  the  morality  of  his  na- 
ture, and  lives  a  life  of  deception,  not  only  to  her  and  society,  but  he  is 
responsible  for  all  the  crimes  that  his  children,  born  under  those  circum- 
stances, are  liable  to  commit. 

A  gentleman  said  to  me  a  little  time  ago,  "  My  wife  is  a  woman's  rights 
woman.  She  talks  of  her  rights,  and  I  allow  it,  but  she  really  has  none. 
I  am  her  husband,  she  is  my  property ;  and  if  I  do  not  like  a  thing  I  say  so, 
and  I  do  not  consider  she  has  any  right  to  dispute  it ;  I  do  not  hold  any 
argument,  for  I  consider  my  will  law.  But  if  I  loved  a  woman,  and  was 
not  bound  to  her  by  the  marriage  ceremony,  I  should  not  think  of  disputing 
her  will  or  wishes,  for  fear  she  would  show  me  the  door,  and  I  should  have 
no  alternative  but  to  go  out  of  it ;  her  will  is  absolute,  for  I  have  no  claim 
upon  her,  and  she  is  justified  in  all  she  does ;  so  it  is  necessary  to  guard 
myself  and  movements,  in  order  to  retain  the  love  and  respect  of  the 
woman  I  love." 

What  a  pleasing  prospect  is  this  for  the  wife,  who  is  rearing  her  children 
in  her  isolated  household,  and  imagining  her  husband  immaculate  in  thought 
as  well  as  actions,  and  respecting  her  in  the  sacred  office  of  wife  and 
mother !  Why  should  woman  tame  herself  into  calm  submission,  and  be 
the  slave,  and  toy,  and  plaything  of  man  ?  What  is  marriage  ?  Is  it  the 
linking  together  of  two  loving  hearts  in  holy  sacred  union  ?  No ;  seldom 
the  case,  when  compared  to  the  many  thousands  upon  thousands  of  mar- 
riages of  convenience.  Women  are  bought  and  paid  for  as  the  negro  slave 
is.  She  is  estimated  as  a  thing  of  barter,  for  a  man  counts  the  cost  of  his 
intended  wife  as  deliberately  as  if  he  thought  of  keeping  a  cow,  a  dog,  or  a 
pig,  wondering  if  it  will  pay.  Now,  what  are  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
women  in  the  marriage  institution?  It  gives  us  the  privilege  to  become 
Mrs.  Brown  instead  of  Miss  Smith ;  that  is  an  honor,  no  doubt,  as  it  relieves 
woman  from  the  stigma  of  old  maid !  It  gives  us  the  privilege  of  being 
supported  and  attending  to  domestic  affairs  —  the  privilege  to  see  that  the 
dinner  is  served  at  the  proper  hour  for  a  hungry  husband  —  the  privilege 
oftentimes  to  sit  up  alone  half  the  night  to  let  that  husband  in  from  a  de- 
lightful concert  and  oyster  supper  that  he  has  enjoyed  with  Mr.  Jones  and 
his  beautiful  wife.  Then  we  have  a  right,  —  and  listen,  women  of  the  nine- 
teenth century, —  the  marriage  institution  gives  you  one  right,  one  right 
that  you  have  not  perhaps  hitherto  valued :  it  gives  you  the  right  to  bear 
children  It  is  not  a  privilege,  it  is  not  an  inheritance  that  your  nature 
craves,  but  it  is  the  law  of  wise  men,  who  know  very  much  better  than  you 
do  when  you  want  a  child,  and  when  you  ought  to  become  a  mother. 

Now,  I  say  again,  that  resolution  is  incomprehensive.  Love  is  not  de- 
pendent on  reason,  or  judgment,  or  education,  or  mental  acquirements,  or 
society,  or  control  of  any  kind.  It  is  an  inspiration  of  the  soul.  It  is  a 
holy,  sacred  eipanation  from  the  most  vital  part  of  our  natures,  and  to  say 
when  or  where  it  shall  be  limited  or  restricted,  is  a  violation  of  our  indi- 
vidual rights. 

I  may  have  taken  an  extreme  side  of  the  question,  but  only  offer  my 
views  as  my  own,  and  wish  that  the  resolution  may  be  put  in  a  more  definite 
form,  stating  what  conjugal  love  is,  and  to  how  few  or  how  many  an  isolated 
household  may  be  limited.  I  will  read  a  resolution  that  I  think  would  bear 
more  dii'ectly  upon  the  marriage  question :  — 

Resolved,  That  the  slavery  and  degradation  of  woman  proceed  from  the  institution  of 
marriage ;  that  by  the  raarriaj^e  contract,  she  loses  control  of  her  name,  her  person,  her 
property,  her  labor,  her  affections,  her  children,  and  her  freedom. 


56  THE    RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

Henry  Clapp,  of  New  York.  Mr.  President,  I  have  not  risen  for  the 
purpose  of  discussing  the  marriage  question,  but  for  the  purpose  of  assert- 
ing everybody's  right  to  discuss  it.  I  have  had  experience  in  different 
reform  movements  for  these  twenty  years,  and  have  made  myself  somewhat 
familiar  with  the  history  of  the  world  for  a  little  longer  period  even  than 
that,  and  I  have  found,  in  every  instance,  whenever  any  new  subject  of 
discussion  is  brought  up,  the  Church  and  State,  the  political  parties,  all  the 
respectability  and  about  all  the  standing  in  the  community,  ready  to  say  — 
"  Hands  off!  That  topic  shall  not  be  considered  !  "  I  do  not  hesitate  to 
say,  that  the  most  touching  spectacle  I  have  witnessed  for  twenty  years  —  a 
spectacle  which  would  have  led  me  instinctively  to  take  my  hat  from  my 
head,  and,  if  necessary,  my  shoes  from  my  feet,  in  the  view  that  I  was 
treading  holy  ground,  is  the  spectacle  I  have  just  seen,  a  woman,  —  a 
noble,  virtuous,  high-minded,  delicate  woman,  —  caring  as  much  for  her 
reputation  as  you  care  for  yours  ;  having  something  more  than  a  man's 
regard  for  his  reputation,  because  a  man  can  do  pretty  much  what  he 
pleases,  and  his  reputation  remain  unscathed,  provided  the  fact  is  unknown  ; 
but  a  woman,  carrying  with  her  a  woman's  reputation,  that  cannot  be 
breathed  upon  without  being  destroyed,  that  cannot  be  looked  at  without  being 
broken,  that  cannot  be  suspected  without  her  being  driven  into  the  haunts 
of  vice,  —  for  a  woman,  I  say,  with  a  woman's  sensitive  nature,  with  a 
woman's  delicate  reputation,  to  stand  here  upon  this  platform,  before  all 
these  people,  and,  if  need  be,  before  the  world,  and  assert  her  right  to  dis- 
cuss the  marriage  question,  —  to  insist  that  marriage,  as  now  understood,  is 
slavery,  —  to  assert  that  any  institution  is  false  in  its  nature  that  employs 
the  element  of  coercion,  is  a  noble,  a  magnificent  spectacle  ;  and  yet,  ladies 
and  gentlemen,  I  know  it  will  cover  that  woman  with  scorn ;  I  know  that 
on  the  wings  of  mighty  winds  it  will  go  all  abroad  that  she  is  a  bad  woman. 
Why  ?  Because  she  dares  to  say  what  she  thinks  on  the  question  of  mar- 
riage. Why  not?  No  matter  what  I  think  about  it ;  I  will  not  condescend 
to  explain  what  I  think  about  it ;  but  I  will  say,  that  it  is  something  very 
base,  very  mean,  to  deny  any  person  the  right  everywhere  to  discuss  and 
consider  it. 

One  word  more  and  I  sit  down.  It  is  this  :  No  subject  is  too  sacred  for 
discussion.  The  lady  who  has  just  addressed  you,  and  others  here,  have 
suffered  from  the  institution  which  they  discuss.  They  came  to  ask  if  there 
is  no  remedy  for  the  evil  which  they  suffer.  They  ask  you  if  they  should 
not  discuss  it.  Let  us  not  be  afraid  to  discuss  any  thing,  war,  slavery, 
intemperance,  the  different  forms  of  religion ;  for  men  are  now  finding  out 
that  it  will  do  to  discuss  every  thing  ;  and  I  only  rose  to  say,  that  it  seemed 
to  me  something  very  great  and  noble,  that  a  woman  should  dare  to  come 
up  here  and  say  precisely  what  she  thought  upon  this  subject ;  and  as 
others  have  thoughts  upon  it,  and  as  we  need  more  light  upon  it  than  upon 
any  other,  I  hope  that  it  will  be  thoroughly  discussed,  and  that  nobody  will 
be  afraid  of  it. 

Stephen  S.  Foster  moved  to  amend  the  resolution  under  discussion, 
by  inserting  after  the  words,  ''  one  man  and  one  woman,"  the  words,  "  based 
upon  the  principle  of  perfect  and  entire  equality,"  so  that  the  resolution 
should  read  as  follows  :  — 

Resolved,  That  the  only  true  and  natural  marriage  is  an  exclusive  conjugal  love  be- 
tween one  man  and  one  yvoman,  based  upon  the  principle  of  perfect  and  eiUii^e  equality  j 
and  the  only  true  home  is  the  isolated  home,  based  upon  this  exclusive  love. 


THE   MARRIAGE   QUESTION.  57 

Mr.  Foster  advocated  his  amendment.  He  remarked  —  I  wish  to  say 
simply  this,  that  if  yon  will  look  at  the  matter,  I  think  you  will  find  that  a 
very  large  proportion,  at  least,  of  the  objections  to  the  marriage  institution, 
presented  by  tlie  last  speaker,  grow  out  of  the  fact  of  the  absence  of  this 
equality  between  the  parties.  Woman  enters  this  relation  to-day,  not  as  the 
equal  partner  of  her  husband,  but  as  the  property,  the  slave,  the  chattel 
personal  of  her  husband ;  and  out  of  that  inequality  grow  those  ten  thou- 
sand times  ten  thousand  evils  that  have  not  been  overstated  here  to-day. 
No,  Mr.  Chairman,  a  thousandth  part  of  the  evils  of  married  life  have  not 
been  presented  to  our  consideration.  I  agree,  in  the  main,  with  all  that 
has  been  said  upon  that  point,  and  I  think  there  are  few,  if  any,  more 
important  subjects  for  us  to  discuss  here  to-day  than  this  question  of  mar- 
riage. The  whole  country  groans  and  travails  in  pain  to-day.  Our  sex 
suffers  more  than  the  other.  I  believe  man  is  a  greater  sufferer  from  this 
tyranny  and  inequality  in  the  marriage  relation  than  woman ;  for  I  can  say, 
as  Cowper  said  on  another  question  :  — 

"I  would  much  rather  be  myself  the  slave, 
And  wear  the  bonds,  than  fasten  them  on  her." 

I  would  rather  take  th-e  position  of  woman  to-day  in  the  marriage  relation 
than  man,  as  I  had  rather  be  the  sufferer  of  the  wrong  than  the  inflictor. 
In  the  long  run,  the  perpetrator  of  the  wrong  is  the  greater  sufferer  of  the 
two,  as  well  as  the  greater  criminal.  But  give  us  true  marriage,  and  will 
you  find  any  evils  in  it  ?  My  experience  says  no.  To  me  the  marriage 
relation  is  the  glory  of  this' fallen  world.  I  have  found  no  evils  in  it.  I  have 
tried  the  blessedness  of  single-blessedness,  and  I  have  tried  the  blessedness 
of  wedded  life,  and  to-day,  to  me,  with  Milton,  this  institution  is  the  only  one 
untarnished — in  its  true  condition  ;  and  it  is  to  me  the  only  type  of  a  per- 
fect paradise.  Others  tell  a  different  experience.  What  is  the  reason? 
Mr.  Chairman,  I  have  tried  the  experiment  under  different  circumstances. 
The  day  I  entered  the  marriage  relation  I  made  a  solemn  vow,  not  to  God, 
not  to  my  wife,  but  to  my  own  soul,  that  never  would  I  regard  her  in  any 
other  liglit  than  as  my  equal  partner  —  equal  in  every  thing.  Was  I  the 
owner  of  a  dollar? — it  was  half  hers.  Her  happiness  was  to  be  to  me,  as  I 
asked  that  mine  might  be  to  her,  the  first  great  object  of  my  existence. 
Thus  passing  through  life,  I  have  found  marriage  all  that  I  ever  expected, 
and  a  thousand  times  more.  I  believe  that  this  will  be  the  experience  of 
every  man  and  of  every  woman  that  will  enter  upon  a  true  marriage.  But 
every  man  is  a  tyrant  in  his  own  family,  and  every  family  is  a  little  embryo 
plantation,  and  every  woman  is  a  slave-breeder, — in  the  eye  of  her  husband 
is  a  slave,  and  the  breeder  of  slaves, —  and  hence  comes  all  the  trouble.  My 
first  proposition  is  this :  that  we  try  the  experiment  of  marriage  under  true 
and  favoi-able  circumstances,  in  which  the  parties  shall  enter  into  the  relation 
on  an  equal  footing ;  then,  if  it  does  not  work  well,  I  will  go  for  an  experi- 
ment of  a  different  kind. 

But  our  sister  has  told  us  of  the  evils  of  married  life.  Well,  suppose 
that  relation  is  dissolved  as  it  exists  to-day — what  is  that  woman  to  do? 
Has  she  improved  her  condition?  Where  are  her  children,  the  dearest 
objects  of  a  mother's  love  ?  I  say  the  remedy  is  worse  than  the  disease.  I 
say,  to  abrogate  the  marriage  relation  is  to  make  the  world  a  hell  in 
advance.  .  I  am  with  our  sister  in  her  view  of  the  evils,  but  I  am  not  with 
her  in  her  view  of  the  remedy.  I  go  for  an  amendment  of  the  resolution, 
and  if  that  plan  does  not  work  well,  then  I  will  go  for  something  else. 


58  THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

Mr.  Tiffany.  I  do  not  myself  perceive  that  the  amendment  is  neces- 
sary. In  other  words,  I  think  that  the  expression  "conjugal  love,"  when 
properly  understood,  implies  all  that  language  can  express.  My  objection 
is,  that  people  do  not  distinguish  very  clearly  between  love  and  lust ;  and 
that  "free  love"  is  only  another  name  for  free  lust.  That  we  may  under- 
stand that  this  is  so,  I  propose  to  lay  down  a  plain  and  simple  distinction, 
that  ought  to  be  observed  by  every  man.  The  difference  between  love  and 
lust  I  understand  to  be  this :  the  individual  who,  in  the  unfoldment  of  his 
nature,  feels  a  need  which  calls  for  an  appropriate  supply,  is  under  the  influ- 
ence of  an  impulse  which  is  symbolized  by  that  word  "  love."  But  when, 
disregarding  nature,  he  seeks  the  gratification  of  desire,  he  then  departs 
from  the  true  love  sphere,  and  enters  that  of  lust.  Now,  then,  in  the  rela- 
tion which  men  seek  to  enter  with  the  other  sex,  the  motive  is  oftener  to 
secure  self-gain  or  self-gratification,  than  to  supply  any  absolute  need. 
What  is  the  usual  motive  that  prompts  a  man  to  get  a  wife  ?  He  wants 
some  one  who  shall  attend  to  his  domestic  affairs  and  administer  to  his  com- 
fort. Therefore,  in  his  self-love,  he  is  seeking  something  to  administer  to 
his  gratification ;  and  when  he  marries  a  woman,  he  marries  his  estimate  of 
her  use,  and  may  have  no  love  for  her  independent  of  her  use.  The  conse- 
quence is,  that  after  having  lived  with  her  a  few  days,  he  finds  her  not 
exactly  so  useful  as  he  expected,  and  gets  tired  of  her,  just  as  he  would  of 
a  horse  or  an  ass  that  did  not  answer  his  purpose.  Now,  are  we  to  call  this 
love  at  all  ?     It  was  only  self-love,  at  best. 

So  with  woman.  Here  is  a  woman  who  wants  a  husband.  She  does 
not  want  to  walk  the  lonely  path  of  an  "  old  maid."  She  wishes  to  marry  a 
use  ;  and  she  finds  a  young  man  that  promises  to  supply  that  use.  But  do 
you  call  that  love  ?  It  was  love  of  self.  Thus  they  unite  upon  the  plane 
of  use,  and  love  of  self  is  manifested  through  use.  And  that  is  what  the 
"world  calls  "conjugal  love."  Do  not  degrade  the  term,  "  conjugal  love,"  by 
associating  it  with  any  thing  of  this  kind.  The  true  love  is  where  man,  in 
the  exercise  of  all  the  faculties  of  his  manhood,  feels  a  need  that  can  only 
be  answered  by  woman,  who  shall  become  to  him,  so  to  speak,  the  counter- 
part of  his  masculine  nature,  of  his  manhood.  When  he  finds  the  individual 
that  becomes  to  him  all  that  a  woman  can  become,  his  whole  soul  goes  out 
towards  her ;  and  when  she,  seeking  to  supply  the  need  she  feels,  finds  in 
him  the  embodiment  of  all  the  desires  of  her  womanhood,  they  unite,  and 
become  one ;  and  so  both  souls,  going  out  to  seek  a  supply  for  their  needs, 
have  united,  not  upon  one  plane,  but  upon  every  plane,  physical,  intellec- 
tual, moral,  and  religious.  All  that  his  soul  can  demand  of  woman  is 
found  in  her  who  stands  to  him  as  the  full  embodiment  and  representative 
of  her  sex,  meeting  all  his  soul's  demands;  and  they  two  become  one. 
Talk  about  "  equality"  between  man  and  wife  !  That  implies  separation  ; 
that  implies  distance,  which  can  be  measured.  They  are  no  longer  two, 
but  one.  The  wife  becomes  to  the  true  husband  the  medium  of  inspiration 
between  him  and  the  higher  heaven ;  she  becomes  to  him  the  medium  of 
inspiration,  not  to  gratify  his  lust,  but  to  fit  his  soul  for  a  higher  state. 
Man,  when  he  unites  his  soul  with  woman,  in  a  true  conjugal  union,  becomes 
a  part  of  herself,  and  becomes  to  her  the.  medium  of  inspiration  uniting  her  to 
God's  existence,  strength,  and  power,  as  she  inspires  him  with  God's  love. 
He  is  the  medium  to  unite  her  with  the  outward,  and  she  the  medium  to 
unite  him  with  the  inward ;  so  they  are  no  longer  two,  but  one. 

Mr.  Foster.     Which  is  the  one  ? 

Mr.  Tiffany.     Both,  both !     [Laughter.] 


THE    MARRIAGE    QUESTION.  59 

Mr.  Foster.     Who  owns  the  form  ? 

Mr.  Tiffany.  Both — both  make  one.  [Applause.]  I  speak  now  of 
both.  The  man  is  no  longer  the  half  of  the  scissors,  and  the  woman  the 
other  half;  they  unite  together  and  make  the  scissors.  [Laughter  and  ap- 
plause.] Now  they  are  prepared  to  cut  whatever  comes  in  their  way. 
Talk  about  inequality  of  development,  when  souls  are  thus  united !  The 
woman  cannot  move  a  step  towards  heaven  without  dragging  her  husband 
with  her. 

[The  President  here  called  "Time,"  but,  by  a  unanimous  vote,  the 
speaker's  time  was  extended,  and  he  proceeded.] 

"  The  unbelieving  husband  is  sanctified  by  the  believing  wife ; "  and 
whatever  of  strenirth  and  power  flows  into  the  husband  will  flow  into  the 
"wife.     I  cannot  stop  to  talk  about  inequality  or  unequal  development. 

Now,  those  men  who  are  in  the  condition  of  experiment,  in  the  very 
shell  of  humanity,  know  nothing  about  love,  and  never  will  know,  as  long 
as  they  are  so  much  in  the  external  that  they  cannot  determine  its  true 
character;  and  the  sooner  such  persons,  who  are  trying  to  find  a  boot  that 
will  fit,  are  caught  and  caged,  the  better.  Whatever  abuses  there  may  be 
in  the  marriage  relation,  they  are  not  created  by  the  institution,  but  not- 
withstanding it.  When  men  and  women  come  together  on  the  plane  of 
lust,  it  is  not  because  they  are  married  that  they  do  it,  but  notwithstanding 
they  are  married.  The  remedy  is  not  to  break  down  the  restriction,  and  let 
the  man  and  woman  loose,  to  try  on  all  God's  creation.  [Laughter.] 
That  is  not  the  remedy;  but  go  to  work  on  that  man;  teach  him  what  is  true, 
pure  and  holy ;  take  that  woman,  and  speak  to  her  soul,  and  call  her  out  of 
that  sense  of  use ;  bring  her  up  to  tiie  plane  of  a  pure  and  holy  life,  that 
she  may  make  a  better  choice.  But  while  they  both  remain  in  this  low 
sphere,  and,  like  a  pair  of  ill-matched  birds,  try  to  tear  each  other's  eyes 
out,  I  feel  like  saying  to  them,  as  the  judge  in  Ohio  said  to  a  quarrelsome 
man  and  his  termagant  wife,  "  We  can't  afford  to  let  you  apart ;  you  will 
catch  somebody  else."  [Laughter.]  When  I  hear  of  such  an  one  who  has 
got  caught  and  caged,  I  feel  like  exclaiming,  "  God  be  praised !  we  have 
got  one  out  of  the  market !  "     [Applause.] 

Now,  what  do  we  need  here  ?  Let  us  look  and  inquire  a  little.  The 
defect  is  not  in  the  institution.  Had  it  not  been  that  men  and  women  were 
lustful,  and  disposed  to  abuse  their  relations,  and  trample  upon  every  thing 
pure  and  holy,  it  would  never  have  been  necessary  to  have  the  insti- 
tution of  marriage.  The  man  developed  and  redeemed  from  sensualism, 
feels  that  his  nature  is  redeemed  from  the  law ;  he  feels  not  its  force ;  but 
as  long  as  that  idea  rules  in  his  breast,  you  must  continue  the  law  over 
him.  If  you  let  him  up,  he  will  fall  on  every  one  in  his  way,  and  rob 
them  of  their  rights.  The  pure-minded  man  or  woman  feels  not  the  evil  of 
these  galling  chains ;  it  is  only  the  one  who  needs  to  be  restrained  that  feels 
it.  Consequently,  let  the  individual  be  redeemed  from  this  state.  Let  this 
desire,  that  goes  out  after  the  "  leeks  and  onions  and  flesh-pots  of  Egypt," 
be  purified,  and  he  will  not  complain  because  he  cannot  get  the  flesh-pots  of 
Egypt.  I  say  that  your  institution  of  marriage  will  exist,  and  ought  to  ex- 
ist, until  men  and  women  are  brought  up  out  of  their  sensual  natures,  and 
developed  out  of  this  plane  that  leads  them  to  seek  association  for  purposes 
of  self-gain  or  gratification.  While  men  are  in  this  plane,  do  away  with 
the  marriage  institution,  and  the  abuses  will  become  universal.  A  is  caught 
and  shut  up  with  one  woman,  and  he  there  indulges  his  passions  with  the 
woman  who  is  called  his  partner.     Remove  that  restriction,  and  he  will  go 


60  THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

forth  and  exercise  them  with  all  others,  and  much  that  now  tends  to  hold 
them  in  check  will  be  removed. 

Mr.  TooHEY.  If  a  man  has  made  a  blunder  once,  by  what  gift  of 
prophecy  do  you  say  he  will  make  a  blunder  the  second  time  ? 

Mr.  Tiffany.  By  history  and  the  result  of  experience.  I  never  knew 
a  man  do  better  the  second  time. 

JNIr.  Clapp.     Then  what  is  the  use  of  Christianity  ? 

Mr.  Tiffany.  Show  me  the  abuse  of  Christianity,  and  I  will  show  you 
its  use.  Show  me  the  man  who  practices  Christianity,  and  I  will  show  you 
its  wisdom.  Show  me  the  man  who  professes  it,  but  does  not  practice  it, 
and  I  will  show  you  its  folly. 

Mrs.  Rose.  As  a  woman's-rights  woman  —  nay,  more,  as  a  human- 
rights  woman  —  I  cannot  but  throw  in  my  mite  on  this  great  and  important 
question  that  has  been  started  here  this  morning.  We  have  had  a  glo- 
rious and  glowing  description  of  true  and  genuine  conjugal  love ;  such 
love  as  has  been  brought  about  by  the  affinity  of  mind  and  soul  and  spirit, 
without  the  admixture  of  any  thing  external ;  a  true  matrimony,  but  not  a 
matter-of-money.  That  description  was  beautiful ;  from  my  whole  heart  do 
I  agree  with  it  and  accept  it.  But,  my  friends,  facts  are  stubborn  things, 
and  we  have  not  only  to  look  at  and  investigate  into  what  ought  to  be,  but 
what  is.  And  what  is  ?  Just  what  has  been  stated  here  this  morning  by  a 
woman  (Mrs.  Branch).  Here  I  must  say  that  I  do  not  know  what  her 
views  are  about  the  remedy,  and,  not  knowing  them,  I  cannot  say  whether 
I  agree  or  disagree.  I  did  not  understand,  as  Mr.  Tiffany  did,  that  she 
mieant  to  let  loose  the  untamed  passions  either  of  men  or  women ;  if  she 
meant  that,  I  totally  and  utterly  disagree. 

Mrs.  Branch.     I  did  not  mean  it  in  that  light. 

Mrs.  Rose.  That  is  right.  But  I  will  speak  to  the  resolution.  The 
resolution  of  Mr.  Foster  is  to  add  the  word  "  equality."  Mr.  Tiffany  thought 
it  was  not  needed,  because  the  words  "  conjugal  love,"  described  all  that  was 
necessary.  But  does  that  exist  ?  I  go  beyond  the  influence  of  woman,  — 
I  go  beyond  it,  and  below  it,  and  above  it.  I  know  the  influence  that  wo- 
man has  on  her  children,  and  I  know  also  that  the  cause  of  the  degradation 
in  which  she  exists  is  because  ignorance  and  usurped  authority  have  placed 
upon  her  the  stamp  of  inferiority.  It  has  had  a  tendency  to  keep  her  infe- 
rior, and  the  result  is,  that  we,  her  offspring,  are  all  inferior,  and,  therefore, 
I  want  to  proclaim  the  principle  of  equality  between  the  sexes.  Bring  up 
woman,  as  Mr.  Tiffany  expresses  it,  aye,  and  man  too,  to  feel  the  law 
within  them,  and  they  will  regard  that  law  in  others.  But  as  long  as  they 
do  not,  they  require  laws,  and  as  long  as  they  require  laws,  we  require  thera 
based  upon  perfect  equality  for  husband  and  wife.  Educate  woman,  bring 
her  up,  and  enable  her  to  become  an  independent  being,  the  same  as  man. 
Cultivate  all  her  powers,  physical,  mental,  and  moral ;  infuse  into  her  the 
principle  of  confidence  in  herself.  Cease  to  tell  her  from  childhood,  to  look 
up  to  man  only  as  her  protector.  No  human  being  can  ever  be  protected, 
who  is  not  able  to  protect  himself.  History  has  demonstrated  that  it  is 
dangerous  to  a  people's  welfare  to  place  one  human  being  in  the  power  of 
another,  whether  that  other  is  called  king,  priest,  president,  or  husband. 
Proclaim  her  as  the  perfect  coequal  with  man ;  enable  her  to  carry  out  the 
great  ends  and  aims  of  her  existence,  the  same  as  man  does ;  and  then  we 
eliall  have  true  conjugal  love,  but  not  until  then. 

Therefore  it  is,  that  I,  for  one,  have  never  introduced  the  question  of  mar- 
riage into  our  Conventions,  because  I  want  to  combat  in  them  the  injustice 


THE   MARRIAGE    QUESTION.  61 

in  the  laws.  When  that  injustice  is  done  away  with,  wlien  woman  is  recog- 
nized by  all  as  the  equal  of  man,  she  will  receive  similar  education,  and 
have  similar  rights,  and  whatever  may  be  found  wrong  after  that  in  the  laws, 
no  fear  but  that  it  will  be  righted.  All  we  ask,  so  far  as  the  laws  are  con- 
cerned, is,  Give  us  the  same  rights,  chances  and  i)rivileges  that  man  has,  to 
education,  to  industry,  to  property,  to  station  in  life  —  in  married  life  as  well 
as  in  single  life.  In  marriage,  we  want  property  protected  for  both  alike. 
We  have  been  told  that  there  is  no  inequality  between  husband  and  wife, 
because  they  are  one.  Yes,  they  are  one.  Blackstone  has  said,  that  man 
and  wife  are  one,  and  as  the  laws  are  made,  that  one  is  the  husband. 
[Laughter.]  Mr.  Tiffany  says,  they  form,  both  of  them,  the  pair  of  scis- 
sors ;  but  the  pair  of  scissors  belongs  to  the  husband,  and  the  wife  cannot 
claim  them  ;  she  has  no  right  to  cut  with  the  instrument  to  which  she  has 
given  her  half,  —  nay,  more,  of  which  she  has  furnished  the  whole  !  Thea 
tell  me  about  "  conjugal  love !  "  It  seems  like  talking  about  the  man  in  the 
moon.  There  may  be  a  great  man  in  it,  but  we  do  not  see  him.  Give  us 
a  telescope,  and  we  may  see  ;  and  we  want  a  telescope  to  see  the  rights  which 
women  now  possess. 

My  heart  is  too  full  to  enter  upon  this  subject.  We  have  been  told  — ■ 
or  the  inference  to  be  drawn  from  the  language  was  —  that  only  vicious 
persons  were  dissatisfied.  I  regretted  to  hear  such  an  expression  fall  from 
the  speaker's  lips,  and  I  hope  he  did  not  know  what  he  uttered.  Do  you 
know  who  are  satisfied  ?  They  are  slaves,  who,  on  account  of  having  been 
subjected  to  slavery  so  long,  have  ceased  to  feel  the  galling  chains  on  their 
necks.  Do  you  know  who  are  dissatisfied  ?  Those  that  feel  the  love  of 
freedom  burning  within  their  breasts.  They  are  dissatisfied,  and  for  what  ? 
For  themselves  only  ?  I  hardly  ever  allude  to  myself,  but  I  will  now.  I  am 
a  married  woman  :  have  been  married  over  twenty  years  ;  have  a  husband, 
and,  as  far  as  individual  rights  are  concerned,  I  have  as  many  as  1  ought  to 
have.  But  I  do  not  thank  the  laws  for  it.  And  why  ?  Because  it  happens 
that  my  husband  is  "a  law  unto  himself,"  and,  being  a  law  unto  himself,  there 
is  no  need  of  any  other  law ;  and,  therefore,  we  might  say,  Abolish  all  laws, 
because  there  is  one  who  is  a  law  unto  himself.  But  what  are  laws  made 
for  ?  Not  for  my  husband,  nor  for  myself  either ;  but  for  those  who  recog- 
nize no  law  but  their  own  passions  and  lusts,  and  their  own  rights,  at  the 
expense  and  sacrifice  of  the  rights  of  every  one  else.  Do  you  ask  me 
where  they  are  ?  Better  ask  me  where  they  are  not  —  and  I  will  tell  you 
of  two  in  my  house.  For  the  good  the  law  is  not  needed ;  for  the  bad  it 
ought  to  be  a  good  law.  A  bad  law  makes  bad  men  worse.  Hence  we 
want  equality  of  rights. 

F.  W.  Evans,  of  the  Shaker  Community  at  Lebanon.  I  feel  thankful, 
my  friends,  that  I  have  lived  to  see  the  time  when  the  subject  of  marriage 
can  be  brought  before  a  free  Convention,  and  when  the  human  mind  has  be- 
come so  disenthralled  from  sectarian  prejudice  and  bigotry,  that  it  can  enter- 
tain opposite  sentiments  and  views  relative  to  that  important  subject. 

What  are  the  ordinary  elements  of  marriage  ?  Man  and  woman.  What 
is  the  ordinary  fountain  of  marriage ?  God,  the  Creator.  Why  so?  Be- 
cause, as  I  firmly  believe,  God,  the  Supreme  Being,  of  all  other  organized 
agencies,  is  himself  male  and  female ;  thus  he  possesses  the  first  principle 
upon  which  the  marriage  institution  rests  ;  God  himself  is  male  and  female 
—  dual.  And  here  I  would  say,  that  I  fully  concur  in  the  views  expressed 
by  Mr.  Mayo,  last  evening,  in  regard  to  the  Bible.  I  do  not  believe  the 
Bible  to  be  the  word  of  God,  but  simply  a  record  of  the  high  spiritual  and 


62  THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

religious  experience  of  the  best  part  of  the  human  race.  I  say,  then,  refer- 
ring to  this  record,  when  God  said,  "  Let  us  make  man  in  our  own  image,  in 
our  own  likeness ;  so  God  created  man  in  his  own  image  and  in  his  own 
likeness ;  in  the  image  of  God  created  he  him,  male  and  female  created  he 
them  ;  and  in  the  day  that  he  created  them,  he  called  their  name  Adam — one ;" 
as  friend  Tiffany  has  expressed  it,  and  very  justly,  they  two  are  but  parts 
of  the  same  being.  The  man  is  not  a  man  without  the  woman ;  the  woman 
is  not  a  woman  without  the  man.  They  are  parts,  I  say,  of  the  same  being, 
and  are  necessary  to  the  complete  happiness  of  each  other.  Why,  then, 
talk  about  man's  rights  and  woman's  rights,  as  though  they  were  indepen- 
dent parties  each  of  the  other  ?  They  are  both  equally  at  fault.  There  is 
a  fault  in  the  marriage  relation,  as  is  admitted  on  all  sides.  There  is  the 
trouble.  As  one  of  the  writers  of  Scripture  history  expresses  it,  "  Whence 
comes  wars  and  fightings,  but  of  your  lusts,  that  are  in  your  members?" 
There  is  the  fountain.  Now,  crucify  these  lusts.  Not  purify,  as  friend  Tif- 
fany says,  but  crucify  the  old  man,  with  all  his  lusts ;  then  you  will  put  the 
axe  to  the  root  of  the  tree,  then  you  will  go  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  evil. 
Then  you  will  know  where  you  are,  what  you  are,  and  what  you  should  be. 

Look  again  at  the  Scripture  record,  for  which  many  entertain  so  great 
respect ;  look  at  the  fall  of  man,  represented  under  the  symbol  of  eating  the 
apple,  an  act  of  disobedience,  an  act  which,  in  itself,  was  perfectly  innocent. 
What  harm  was  there  in  eating  apples  ?  We  have  all  eaten  apples — a  good 
many  of  us  in  the  same  way  that  Adam  and  Eve  ate  the  apple,  and  have 
experienced  the  same  results  in  our  own  persons.  What  was  it  ?  When 
they  were  in  the  garden,  Adam  and  Eve  were  naked,  and  not  ashamed. 
By-and-by  they  were  tempted  by  the  serpent.  One  of  our  common  ser- 
pents? Nobody  believes  it,  in  our  day,  that  is  anybody.  [Laughter.] 
What  was  it,  then,  that  tempted  them?  It  was  the  sensual,  animal  nature. 
How  did  that  tempt  them  before  there  was  evil  in  operation  ?  In  God  is 
male  and  female.  There  is  the  fountain  of  use.  Every  thing  proceeding 
and  emanating  from  God  is  use ;  his  very  thoughts  are  use ;  his  every  act 
is  use  —  utility.  So  when  he  made  man  in  his  own  image,  male  and  female, 
the  object  was  that  they  might  reproduce  their  species.  That  was  the  use 
for  the  reproductive  powers  with  which  they  were  endowed.  But  when 
they  were  tempted,  they  experienced  pleasure,  a  sensation  that  was  agree- 
able in  their  use,  and  they  were  tempted  to  repeat  the  act,  for  the  sake  of 
sensual  gratification,  without  reference  to  the  use  thereof  "  We  have  all 
sinned  after  the  similitude  of  Adam's  transgression."  All  mankind  have 
gone  wandering  after  the  beast.  They  have  been  led  away  by  the  serpent 
gratification  —  sensuality.  They  do  things  for  the  sake  of  the  pleasure  of 
doing  them,  without  any  reference  to  utility.  Here  lies  the  sin  —  not  in  the 
act  of  reproduction,  but  in  the  act  of  self-gratification,  without  reference  to 
reproduction.  I  speak  plainly,  because  I  feel  that  I  am  speaking  to  men 
and  women ;  which  is  more  than  I  could  say  if  I  was  in  some  places. 
[Laughter  and  applause,] 

Mr.  Wright.  Our  friend  speaks  of  the  distinction  of  sex  in  God.  I 
would  ask  what  is  the  particular  use  of  sex  in  God  ?  I  believe  in  the  doc- 
trine, but  I  would  like  to  have  his  explanation. 

Mr.  Foster  here  moved  to  rescind  the  ten-minutes'  rule,  but  the  motion 
was  lost.     Mr.  Evans's  time,  however,  was  extended. 

Mr.  Evans.  Friend  Wright  asks  what  is  the  use  or  the  utility  of  sex  in 
Deity.  It  seems  to  me  a  question  easily  answered  by  our  own  experience  ; 
for  we  are  created  in  the  image  of  God.     We  find   the  use  of  male  and 


THE   MARRIAGE    QUESTION.  63 

female,  every  one  of  us.  Our  happiness  depends  upon  the  two.  What  idea 
could  we  form  of  the  happiness  of  any  being  who  was  constituted  solely  of 
either  male  or  female?  The  one  represents  power — the  intellect;  the 
other  represents  the  affections  —  love.  "  God  is  love,"  "  God  is  a  devouring 
fire,"  the  Scripture  says.  Again,  ''  Our  God  is  love."  Woman  is  the  repre- 
sentative of  love.  Now,  my  friends,  when  Adam  and  Eve  ate  the  apple,  as 
was  represented,  the  curse  was  pronounced.  The  earth  was  cursed  for  the 
sin  of  man,  and  the  curse  was  pronounced  upon  the  woman  :  "  I  will  greatly 
multiply  thy  sorrow  and  thy  conception  ;  in  sorrow  shalt  thou  bring  forth 
children  ;  and  thy  desire  (or  lust)  shall  be  to  thy  husband,  and  he  shall  rule 
over  thee"  —  because  he  is  the  stronger.  Because  he  is  the  stronger  of  the 
two,  therefore  he  should  rule  over  her  on  that  plane.  This  is  verified  in  the 
whole  history  of  the  human  race.  Go  where  you  will,  woman  is  degraded, 
oppressed,  "ruled  over"  by  the  stronger  animal — man.  Especially  is  this 
the  case  in  what  we  term  uncivilized  nations. 

But,  my  friends,  there  is  hope.  "  There  is  balm  in  Gilead,  and  a  phy- 
sician there."  There  is  hope  for  all  this  trouble  in  the  flesh  —  a  remedy.  I 
thank  God  that  there  is  a  i-emedy ;  that  there  is  hope  ;  that  there  is  salva- 
tion, redemption ;  that  God  has  sent  a  messenger  into  this  world  to  open  a 
way  out  of  this  trouble  arising  from  the  marriage  relation !  I  say,  I  thank 
God  that  a  door  has  been  opened,  an  unexpected  door  of  deliverance.  Many 
are  looking  for  the  second  coming  of  Christ.  What  does  the  prophet  say  to 
them  ?  "  Woe  unto  you  that  desire  the  day  of  the  Lord,  (the  second  com- 
ing of  Christ.)  Woe  unto  you,  for  the  day  of  the  Lord  shall  be  darkness, 
and  not  light;  a  day  of  trouble,  and  anguish,  and  desolation."  To  what? 
To  the  sensual,  animal  man,  because  it  would  bring,  not  purification  to  this 
sensual,  serpentile,  animal  nature,  but  crucifixion.  Death  is  the  end  of 
every  generative  man  and  woman.  "  In  the  day  thou  eatest  thereof,  thou 
shalt  surely  die."  Die  to  the  life  of  God,  of  truth  and  purity  in  the  soul ; 
but  beyond  that  there  is  another  death  —  there  is  death  to  the  old  man,  the 
old  Adam  and  the  old  Eve  ;  and  then  comes  the  resurrection.  What  is 
that  resurrection?  A  remedy  for  all  the  troubles  of  the  marriage  relation  — 
a  life  of  virgin  purity. 

J.  H.  W.  TooHEY.  Mr.  Chairman: — I  am  glad  this  question  has 
been  presented,  and  is  now  up  for  discussion,  since  the  word  marriage  has 
come  to  be  associated  with,  if  in  fact  it  is  not  at  this  time  a  synonym  for^ 
social  discord  and  sexual  abuse.  \  hope,  therefore,  the  subject  will  be 
thoroughly  investigated,  that  we  may  understand  its  nature,  relations  and 
bearing,  and,  if  possible,  give  some  thoughts  of  a  constructive  character 
to  harmonize  its  present  outstanding  issues.  The  subject  is  worthy  of  it, 
and  the  age  demands  it,  and  all  that  is  required  of  us  is  to  extend  to  its  ex- 
amination the  same  candor  and  fair  dealing  we  award  to  other  departments 
of  life. 

I  regret,  however,  that  I  am  compelled  to  diflTer  from  Mr.  Tiffany  — 
the  more,  as  I  find  myself  often  agreeing  with  him  in  his  efforts  to  unite  re- 
ligion and  reform ;  but  the  statements  he  kas  made  upon  this  subject,  and 
the  logic  he  has  used  to  enforce  his  conclusions,  convince  me  that  he  has 
spoken  somewhat  at  random,  if,  indeed,  he  was  not  unconscious  of  the  ten- 
dency of  his  argument.  The  proof  of  this  is  in  the  inevitable  consequences 
of  his  logic,  since  Mr.  Tiffany  puts  an  end  to  all  improvement,  by  ignor- 
ing experiment  as  a  corrective  element  in  marriage.  Oivilization  being  the 
result  of  observation  and  experiment,  why  limit  and  contract  improvement 
in  this  department  of  life,  by  investing  custom  and  law  with  positive  and 


64  THE   EUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

final  authority,  when  all  such  assumption  is  at  the  expense  of  the  aspira- 
tions of  the  soul  and  the  genius  of  reform  ?  Why  keep  a  man  in  bad  and 
corrupting  relations,  because  he  made  an  error  in  judgment,  in  investing 
himself  and  another  with  characteristics  of  body  and  mind  not  theirs  ? 
Why,  sir,  to  do  so  is  to  make  Jinal  the  tyranny  of  ignorance,  and  make 
positive  the  barbarities  of  feudal  law.  The  idea,  therefore,  of  converting 
the  institution  of  marriage  into  a  prison,  where  all  the  unclean  and  untama- 
ble of  society  are  to  be  "  caged  "  and  kept,  may  seem  'prudential  to  Mr. 
Tiffany ;  but  constructive  reason  and  an  enlightened  conscience  will  be  slow 
in  attaching  any  importance  to  his  conclusions.  It  is  no  assumption,  there- 
fore, to  say,  that  Mr.  Tiffany's  argument,  in  spirit,  method,  and  tendency,  is 
opposed  to  the  soul  of  progress,  and  unfriendly  to  the  purposes  of  this  Con- 
vention. Indeed,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  conceive  how  a  full  believer  in  the  de-p 
pravity  of  the  race  could  have  been  more  persistent  in  presenting  the  self- 
ishness of  men  and  women,  as  a  plea  for  ignoring  the  claims  of  reform,  and 
discrediting  Human  Nature,  than  Mr.  Tiffany  has  been,  while  arguing 
against  the  change  of  partners  in  marriage.  This  assumption  is  personal  in 
character  and  suspicious  in  spirit,  both  of  which  do  violence  to  unitary  sci- 
ence and  human  reform. 

If  the  general  assumption  of  Mr.  Tiffany  is  defective,  his  historical  pre- 
tensions are  equally  unfortunate,  for  the  following  reasons  :  — 

1st.  It  is  defective^  because  the  experience  of  the  race  has  not  only  au- 
thorized changes  in  married  relations,  hy\t  prohibited  marrying  within  certain 
degrees  of  consanguinity ;  and  the  evidence  for  this  change  is  positive  and 
final,  speaking  as  it  does  in  the  name  of  Science,  Religion  and  Law.  Ac- 
cordingly, no  sane  man  will  call  in  question  the  wisdom  that  prohibits  the 
marriage  of  blood  relatives,  since  the  excesses  and  results  of  such  unions 
have  long  since  culminated  and  made  their  tendency  manifest  in  the  dirty 
habits  and  scrofulistic  persons  of  "  the  Georges  of  England." 

The  sustaining  facts  of  these  and  other  illustrations  authorize  the  conclu- 
sion, that  scrofula,  idiocy  and  insanity  are  the  natural  results  of  all  "  blood- 
marriages."  These,  however,  have  been  sanctioned  in  other  ages  and  na- 
tions, and  ecclesiastic  authority  and  all-powerful  custom  recognized  them 
as  natural  and  lawful.  Nevertheless,  facts  have  grown  up  in  the  ages,  and 
are  now  recognized  by  science  as  the  representatives  of  certain  phases  of 
physical  and  social  life ;  and  these  facts,  speaking  in  the  name  of  humanity, 
condemn  the  practice,  and  the  law  that  sanctioned  it. 

2d.  But  if  Pathology  proves  Mr.  Tiffany's  assumption  defective,  Physi- 
ology will  demonstrate  his  conclusions  to  be  pernicious  ;  since  it  is  now  con- 
ceded, that  LIKE  temperaments,  marrying  "  in  and  in^'  beget  in  two  or  three 
generations,  imperfect,  sickly,  and  diseased  children,  most  of  whom  become 
subject  to  the  taint  of  scrofula  and  consumption.  Thus  Pathology  teems 
with  evidence  to  convince  the  mind  that  all  neglect  of  a  fitting  adaptation  in 
the  parties  to  the  institution  and  relations  of  marriage,  ends  in  i3remature 
decay  and  unnatural  death  ;  and  Physiology  makes  the  evidence  authorita- 
tive and  final,  in  demonstrating  the  presence  of  law,  while  explaining  the 
principles  which  underlie  these  phases  of  life. 

These  statements  resolve  themselves  into  fact  and  demonstration,  soon  as 
we  address  ourselves  to  life,  as  any  one  will  find,  who  will  give  a  week's  at- 
tention to  the  subject,  in  any  town  or  city  in  the  United  States. 

Observation  and  science  thus  agreeing,  Mr.  Tiffany's  historic  assumption 
melts  into  thin  air,  with  nought  to  support  it,  but  the  fact  that  humanity  is 
not  perfect  and  infallible.     As  for  the  abuses  and  perversions  of  sexism,  in- 


woman's  rights.  6^ 

cidental  to  all  transition  periods  of  history,  and  always  more  or  less  present 
in  society,  it  were  enough  to  say,  that  no  sane  man  will  expect  an  absolute  or 
unmixed  good,  while  men  and  women  are  ignorant,  and  incapable  of  providing 
for  themselves. 

The  facts,  however,  that  correct  the  argument  of  Mr.  Tiffany,  will  cor- 
rect and  purify  the  conduct  of  other  men,  so  that  in  time,  the  marriage  in- 
stitution will  become  "  a  thing  of  beauty,  and  a  joy  forever."  Let  it  be 
understood,  therefore,  that  the  defects  and  errors  of  marriage  are  incidental 
to  the  progress  of  the  race,  but  capable  of  modification  and  correction.  But 
this  correction  will  come  only  when  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  life  enters 
into  and  helps  to  magnify  the  value  of  a  healthy  and  harmonic  existence  ; 
since  sin  is  everywhere  and  always,  much  more  the  child  of  ignorance  and 
weakness,  than  of  selfishness  and  strength.  As  a  primary  fact,  therefore,  it 
should  be  remembered,  that  the  marriage  of  like  temperaments  develops 
disease,  and  tends  towards  early  death  —  though  the  parties  should  come,  the 
one  from  New  York,  and  the  other  from  Hindostan.  Much  might  be  said 
in  addition,  to  show  that  the  conservative  policy  that  ignores  alteration, 
amendment,  or  reform  in  marriage,  is  insensible  to  its  own  needs  and  the 
present  condition  of  society ;  but  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  extend  remark, 
when  the  defects  of  our  so-called  civilized  life  are  made  more  or  less  appa- 
rent by  every  speaker  on  this  platform. 

It  may  be  well  to  say,  however,  that  destruction  is  not  construction,  any 
more  than  to  decry  reform  is  indicative  of  wisdom ;  and,  therefore,  I  suggest 
that  a  middle  ground  must  be  discovered  between  the  Free-Loveism  of  the 
age,  and  the  conservatism  of  old  institutions,  which  will  mediate  between, 
and,  if  possible,  harmonize  the  two.  I  make  this  suggestion,  believing, 
as  I  do,  that  the  marriage  relation  is  natural  and  eternal,  and  necessary  to 
familyism,  and  the  existence  of  society.  At  the  same  time,  I  protest  against 
all  laiv  that  attempts  to  perpetuate  such  evils  as  I  have  alluded  to,  and  I  will 
ignore  its  authority,  as  an  act  of  religion  and  humanity.  This  language,  so 
earnest,  positive,  and  revolutionary,  expresses  the  honest  convictions  of  many, 
A'ho  have  remonstrated  with  conservative  friends,  appealed  to  the  good  sense 
of  society,  and  petitioned  its  law-makers,  hoping  thereby  to  correct  public 
opinion,  and  alter  the  present  laws  on  marriage.  These  men  and  women 
are  now  no  longer  isolated  and  exceptional ;  but  united  and  determined  in 
their  issue  on  the  "  legal  bond,"  that  makes  marriage  a  punishment,  home  a 
prison,  and  children  the  living  witnesses  of  their  parents'  sorrow,  discord,  or 
shame  ;  all  of  which  perversions  of  use  and  beauty  tend  towards,  if  they  do 
not  end  in,  death,  —  Physical,  Mental,  Moral,  Spiritual,  and  Social. 

The  speech  made  by  Mrs.  J.  Branch,  and  the  remarks  made  thereon  by 
other  members  of  this  Convention,  more  than  authorize  these  statements ; 
but  the  following,  from  "  a  declaration  of  principles,  believed  and  advocated 
by  the  Progressionists  of  Battle  Creek,  Michigan,"  will  prove  that  the 
genius  of  reform  is  constructive  and  orderly,  as  well  as  destructive  and  rev- 
olutionary :  — 

"  Marriage  and  Divorce.  Duality  in  Unity,  being  the  divine  method  by  which 
influxes  and  incarnations  manifest  themselves  in  nature,  as  negative  and  positive  are  the 
necessary  agents  in  creation  and  government ;  so  does  the  male  and  female  in  tlie  human 
family  compose  the  parts  of  a  complete  oneness,  and  find  their  purest  enjoyment  in  the 
intertwining  of  their  afFectional  natures.  '  Variety  in  love,'  therefore,  is  unnatural  and 
bnitalizing,  as  it  tends  to  blunt  the  finer  sensibilities  of  the  soul  and  debase  man's 
nature.     The  office  of  the  sexes  being  thus  sacred,  marriage  should  be  sacramental.     But 


66  THE    RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

when  persons  living  in  married  life  find  it  impossible  to  live  together  in  harmony,  they 
having  done  their  best  to  neutralize  difficulties  and  subdue  antagonisms,  divine  harmony 
and  spiritual  order  require  that  such  relations  should  end.  A  discriminative  divorce  law, 
therefore,  should  exist  in  every  State  and  nation,  the  duties  of  which  should  be  executed 
by  legally  appointed  and  thoroughly  qualified  officers." 

This  declaration  outlines  the  only  way  to  mediate  between  the  extremes 
the  discussion  has  arrived  at ;  and  believing  it  to  be  constructive,  I  submit 
it  for  consideration.  But  in  submitting  it,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind,  that 
public  opinion  must  be  corrected,  prejudice  subdued,  ignorance  enlightened, 
that  the  moral  sense  of  society  may  culminate  in  creating  the  necessary 
offices  and  laws  for  the  prevention  of  crime  in  the  marriage  institution,  as 
in  other  departments  of  society.  This  will  not  only  meet  the  needs  of 
society,  but  save  us  from  hearing  the  painful,  disgraceful  and  corrupting 
revelations  more  or  less  common  to  all  divorce  trials.  When,  sir,  this  is 
done,  and  it  shall  come  to  pass,  "  in  the  course  of  human  events,"  that  men 
and  women  shall  love  "  mercy  rather  than  sacrifice  ;  "  when  persons  enter- 
ing marriage  shall  come  prepared  to  meet  the  responsibilities  of  the  office, 
as  well  as  enjoy  the  pleasure  of  its  relations ;  when,  in  short,  the  race  is 
educated  and  fitted,  by  virtue  of  discipline  and  culture,  to  become  fathers 
and  mothers,  then  religion  and  law  will  go  hand  in  hand  to  the  enrichment 
of  science  and  the  glory  of  progress.  Then  social  unions  and  domestic  joys 
will  harmonize  the  minds  and  purify  the  spirits  of  men  and  women,  making 
them  fit  members  of  the  institution  of  marriage,  which  will  thus  become  the 
"  Holy  of  Holies "  to  the  race.  In  the  meantime,  while  ignorance  is 
our  birthright,  and  prejudice  the  result  of  association  ;  while  honest  and 
humane  teachers  are  few,  and  physiological  knowledge  is  ignored  ;  in  brief, 
while  society  authorizes  customs,  and  education  and  religion  (?)  tolerate 
fashions  injurious  to  purity  of  mind  and  health  of  body,  so  long  will  mar- 
riage be  associated  with  social  discords,  family  sickness,  sexual  infidelity, 
and  domestic  immorality ;  for  the  correction  of  which,  human  prudence, 
common  justice,  and  social  harmony  demand  that  discriminative  divorce 
become  a  practical  part  of  common  law. 

Mr.  Tiffany  explained  his  position  in  regard  to  marriage,  substantially 
to  the  effigct  that  those  who  were  fitted,  by  the  purity  of  their  state,  to  enter 
into  a  true  marriage  relation,  had  no  need  of  the  law,  for  they  were  "a 
law  unto  themselves."  He  believed  they  were  capable  of  coming  into  that 
state,  when  they  had  purified  themselves  of  their  lusts  ;  but  while  they 
were  under  the  dominion  of  those  lusts,  there  must  be  a  civil  law.  In  con- 
clusion, he  said  he  believed  woman  was  in  every  respect  man's  equal  and, 
in  the  highest  and  best  sense,  his  superior,  and  ought  to  have  all  the  rights 
he  has,  and  a  good  many  more. 

Mrs.  EosE  here  took  the  Chair,  at  the  request  of  the  President,  and  a 
song  was  sung  by  the  Harmonial  Club.  A  somewhat  extended  discussion 
followed  with  regard  to  the  manner  in  which  the  Convention  had  been  con- 
ducted, at  the  conclusion  of  which  Dr.  Gardner,  of  Boston,  moved  that 
the  programme  of  the  Business  Committee  be  dispensed  with,  and  that  the 
discussion  continue,  under  the  ten-minutes'  rule,  but  the  motion  did  not  pre- 
vail. 

Mrs.  Rose  then  announced  that  the  next  business  in  order,  according  to 
the  programme,  would  be  the  discussion  of  the  subject  of  "  Woman's  Rights," 
and  introduced  Mrs.  Eliza  W.  Farnham,  of  New  York. 


woman's  rights.  67 

Mrs.  Farnham  introduced  her  remarks  with  the  following  series  of  res- 
olutions :  — 

Besolved,  That  it  behooves  us,  as  persons  professing  free  thought  and  righteous  purpose 
towards  the  liiglicst  welfare  of  society  as  well  as  of  individuals,  to  look  frankly  and 
courageously  in  their  face  the  monstrous  evils  which  grow  out  of  the  wrong  and  wicked 
generation  of  human  beings  ;  and  that  merely  to  continue  working,  however  zealously  and 
tenderly,  for  the  reform  of  such  persons,  after  we  have  idly  suffered  this  irreparable  and 
greatest  wrong  to  be  done  against  them,  were  a  weak  and  sinful  waste  of  the  powers  to 
know  and  to  do  with  which  God  has  beneficently  endowed  us. 

7iV6o/ref/,  therefore,  That  we  will  diligently  search  into  all  the  means  and  conditions 
by  which  the  good  of  our  race  may  be  thus  primarily  secured,  and  trusting  that  a  wise 
and  pure  God  has  incorporated  into  his  works  no  laws  or  elements  which  pure  and 
earnest  men  and  women  may  not  only  learn,  but  worthily  and  profitably  teach,  we  will 
seek  to  unfold  to  Loth  the  knowledge  and  truth  whereby  they  may  be  brought  to  act 
faithfully  and  wisely  in  the  relation  of  parents  as  well  before  as  after  the  birth  of  their 
offspring. 

ixeso/ved,  That  we  regard  the  weight  of  this  responsibility  as  resting  upon  woman, 
and  believe  that  she  can  never  fill  the  measure  of  her  duty  till  she  is  inspired  with  a  con- 
sciousness of  her  higher  powers  and  corresponding  rank  in  the  scale  of  being ;  till  she  is 
freed  from  the  oppression  of  unequal  laws,  the  slavery  of  mental  darkness,  vanity,  and 
selfishness  in  which  she  has  been  trained,  and  is  made  truly  free  and  wise,  both  as  a 
woman  and  mother ;  and  that  for  these  ends,  grand  and  unattainable  as  they  may 
seem  to  many,  we  believe  no  miraculous  interposition  is  necessary,  and  no  impossible 
effort  demanded  on  the  part  of  those  who  may  receive  and  teach  the  truth,  but  that  here, 
as  elsewhere,  we  shall  find  that  our  dear  Heavenly  Father  hath  been  beforehand  with  us, 
and  has  already  more  than  half  accomplished  the  great  work  in  the  susceptible,  intuitive, 
spiritual  nature  which  he  has  bestowed  upon  woman.     Therefore, 

Resolved,  finally,  That  this  paramount  claim  upon  the  intelligent,  progressive  life  of 
the  age  and  country  is  thus  to  instruct  woman  in  the  grandeur  of  her  great  natural  office ; 
enlighten  her,  and  through  her  instrumentality,  to  make  man  sensible  of  the  fearful  con- 
sequence of  her  enslavement  in  it ;  to  encourage  and  strengthen  her  to  demand  as  her 
and  her  children's  indefeasible  right,  that  freedom  and  control  of  her  person  in  the  mar- 
riage relation,  which  alone  would  make  her  to  consult  her  nature,  and  its  physical 
and  spiritual  capacities,  to  assume  at  any  time  the  office  of  mother ;  and  that,  in  the 
acknowledgment  of  the  rank  and  freedom  herein  claimed  for  her,  we  see  the  only  source 
of  a  spiritual,  enduring  and  harmonial  civilization,  as  well  as  the  hope  of  a  nobler  race 
than  has  ever  yet  occupied  the  earth ;  that  we  regard  humanity  at  present  as  more  the 
offsjn-ing  of  its  father  than  its  mother,  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  man  has  been  the  posi- 
tive power  on  all  the  planes  of  life  which  we  have  yet  passed,  and  we  can  only  look  for 
its  essential  advancement  above  the  intellectual  and  material  refinement,  which,  so  far  is 
the  expression  of  the  masculine,  by  the  embodiment  in  it  of  the  intuitive  life,  harmony, 
tenderness,  fortitude,  integrity,  purity,  and  love,  which  are  the  characteristic  elements  of 
the  feminine. 

ADDRESS  OF  MRS.  FARNHAM. 

I  am  aware,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  that  I  labor  under  great  disadvantage 
in  presenting  my  views  liere,  inasmuch  as  I  have  no  educated  public  senti- 
ment to  which  to  appeal.  I  feel  and  believe  that  God  has  made  woman 
organically  superior  to  man,  as  he  has  made  her  spiritually  superior ;  that 
as  she  represents  love  in  her  spiritual  nature,  which  we  all  conceive  to  be 
the  highest,  and  in  which  we  all  acknowledge  her  to  be  superior,  she  repre- 
sents also  in  organic  life  corresponding  qualities ;  and  as  mother,  in  which 
department  of  organic  life,  t\\%  woman  stands  at  the  top  of  creation,  she  is 
the  crowning  work  of  this  material  world.  In  regard  to  the  marriage 
question,  it  seems  to  me  that  many  of  the  difficulties  which  our  friends  find 
surrounding  this  subject  are  the  inevitable  result  of  the  emancipation  of 
woman,  which  seems  to  me  nothing  alarming  or  disorderly.  Some  of  you 
are  acquainted  with  the  water-cure  treatment  for  disease.  You  see  patients 
sometimes  resorting  to  the  water-cure,  to  all  appearance  in  tolerable  health; 
the  body  is  all  fair  and  smooth,  and  perhaps  you  fancy  that  it  is  half  a 


68  THE    EUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

notion  that  they  need  any  cure  at  all.  But  the  physician  commences  his 
applications  to  them,  and  in  a  few  weeks,  the  skin  that  was  so  fair  and 
smooth,  becomes  a  mass  of  corruption.  All  that  was  bad  and  impure 
within  is  coming  out ;  and  perhaps  you  think,  in  your  shallow  judgment, 
that  the  water-cure  doctor  has  put  the  disease  in,  instead  of  taking  it  out. 
It  seems  to  me  that  our  present  social  condition  corresponds  to  that.  Woman 
has  been  patient,  and  submitted  to  her  condition  in  the  marriage  relation 
during  all  the  ages  in  which  she  has  regarded  herself,  and  been  treated  as 
man's  inferior.  During  that  time,  there  was  a  good  deal  of  peace  in  the 
domestic  relation.  People  thought  it  was  all  right.  The  marriage  institu- 
tion, and  the  laws  regulating  it,  were  established,  and  almost  everybody 
said  well.  But  it  is  not  so  when  women  begin  to  find  that  they  have  other 
relations  than  they  ever  suspected ;  and  you  will  find  that  disorders  will 
come ;  there  is  no  hindering  them  ;  for,  as  I  understand  it,  the  spirit  of 
freedom,  entering  into  the  hearts  of  men  and  women,  will  produce  rebellion 
against  the  chains  of  slavery ;  woman  is  beginning  now  to  feel  herself  to  be 
a  power  in  the  social  and  in  the  civil  world,  to  some  extent.  What  I  claim 
is,  that  she  shall  have  a  power  in  the  intellectual  world,  where  most  of  us 
are  disposed  to  deny  to  her  a  position  corresponding  to  her  position  in  the 
spiritual  world.  I  claim  for  her  superiority  in  the  intellectual  life,  in  which 
man  has  heretofore  been  almost  universally  considered  the  superior.  But  I 
do  not  believe  that  the  logical  faculty  is  the  highest  department  of  the 
intellect.  I  do  not  believe  that,  in  the  ages  to  come,  this  is  to  be  the  high- 
est exhibition  or  proof  of  intellectual  power ;  and  in  this  sense,  I  look  for 
the  intellectual,  as  well  as  the  moral  and  religious  light,  in  the  ages  to 
come,  to  receive  a  material  modification  from  the  development  and  presence 
of  womanly  life  and  power  in  them.  To  my  apprehension,  this  question 
will  begin  to  take  a  settled  form  just  in  proportion  as  communities  and 
individuals  are  prepared  to  study  into  the  organic  life  of  man,  and  learn 
from  that  what  is  included  in  the  spiritual,  and  see  and  accept  —  what  peo- 
ple always  will  accept  —  the  physical  work  of  God  as  proof  of  what  he 
means  in  the  spiritual.  If  I  could  convince  you,  as  I  could  convince  any 
persons  capable  of  sitting  down  and  examining  certain  anatomical  facts,  that 
by  a  law  which  is  inevitable  on  all  the  inferior  planes  of  life,  woman  is 
superior,  that  she  possesses  the  more  complex  physical  life,  and  in  virtue 
of  that,  God  has  indisputably  declared  that  he  places  her  at  the  head  of 
that  scale  of  life,  you  would  be  induced  to  inquire  into  the  proofs  of  woman's 
physical  superiority ;  and  having  attained  that  by  any  means,  you  would  be 
ready  for  women  to  claim  for  themselves  the  position  without  which  society 
must  be  always  chaotic  and  disorderly. 

Our  difficulty  is,  that  we  dread  we  are  going  to  step  otF  the  great  conti- 
nent of  truth.  Convince  a  man  that  he  has  that  under  his  feet,  and  there  is 
no  man  so  selfish  and  depraved  that  he  will  hesitate  to  go  on.  There  is  no 
man  who  does  not  feel  that  God  is  truth,  and  if  he  has  Him  under  his  feet, 
there  can  be  no  failure  in  his  operations.  I  regard  it  as  the  great  work  of 
society  and  of  nations,  to  educate  woman  to  receive  the  idea,  and  incorporate 
it  into  her  life,  of  her  superiority — of  her  claim,  consequently,  to  the  fullest 
development  and  most  active  exercise  of  all  the  powers  that  God  has  given 
her ;  and  that,  not  that  she  may  be  strong  to  build  railroads,  or  dig  a  great 
shaft  through  the  earth,  but  that  she  may  attain  to  the  power  which  is  the 
fruit  of  this  development  for  a  higher  purpose  —  for  the  embodiment  of  it 
in  humanity,  through  her  children.  I  believe  that  an  ignorant,  undeveloped 
woman,  must  bring  forth  fruit  corresponding  to  her  condition,  as  the  crab- 


woman's  eights.  69 

tree  brings  forth  fruit  after  its  kind ;  but  the  enlightened  and  cultivated  wo- 
man, like  the  crab-tree  when  carefully  pruned  and  grafted,  will  bring  forth 
cultivated  fruit.  The  fact  that  the  development  of  the  mother  is  represented 
in  her  offspring,  is  the  highest  fact  that  man  can  take  into  consideration ; 
and  it  behooves  us,  first  of  all,  to  consider  how  women  are  to  be  educated 
into  the  exercise  of  their  highest  powers. 

I  have  proved  the  force  of  these  facts  to  many  persons  in  the  course  of 
the  last  year,  and  I  believe  that  to-day,  with  the  force  of  the  truths  I  have, 
I  could  go  into  the  Five  Points  in  New  York,  and  take  a  class  of  women,  — 
the  lowest  I  could  find,  —  capable  of  becoming  mothers,  and  so  educate 
them  that  they  should  never,  after  the  day  they  had  seen  me,  bring  such 
children  into  the  world  as  they  had  before.  I  know  this,  not  because  I  am 
eloquent  or  gifted,  but  because  truth  is  all-powerful,  and  this  truth  appeals 
to  the  innermost,  dearest  life  of  every  woman.  The  soul  of  every  woman 
answers  to  that  appeal  —  I  know  it !  She  feels  that  she  represents  God  to 
humanity,  and  that  humanity,  born  without  her,  is  to  that  extent,  born 
"  without  God  in  the  world." 

I  do  not  wish  to  occupy  the  time  of  the  Convention  any  further.  I  be- 
lieve there  are  other  speakers  who  will  address  you  on  the  same  subject. 

H.  C.  Wright  addressed  the  Convention  as  follows:—- 

Mr.  President, — There  are  two  resolutions  before  this  Convention,  relating, 
one  to  marriage,  and  the  other  to  maternity.  In  my  estimation,  no  subject 
can  be  presented  more  deserving  our  most  serious  attention ;  for  the  charac- 
ter and  happiness  of  individuals  and  families,  and  the  destiny  of  the  race,  in 
the  body  and  out  of  it,  are  more  directly  involved  in  these  two  subjects  than 
in  all  others.  The  empire  of  woman  as  a  mother  is  like  the  empire  of  God, 
absolute  in  power,  eternal  in  duration.  Through  woman,  as  a  mother,  the 
law  of  health  or  disease,  of  life  or  death,  is  engraven  on  the  body  and  soul  of 
every  human  being.  Woman,  as  a  true  mother,  is  invested  witli  a  more  hal- 
lowed beauty,  and  a  brighter  glory,  than  if  she  wielded  the  sceptre  over  an 
empire  on  which  the  sun  never  sets.  As  a  husband  and  father,  and  as  a 
wife  and  mother,  —  when  brought  into  these  relations  by  a  true  conjugal 
and  parental  love,  —  man  and  woman  are,  indeed,  the  noblest  and  most  per- 
fect embodiments  of  the  Divine.  How  much  more  noble,  than  when  viewed 
as  king  or  queen,  as  priest  or  politician,  as  voter  or  ofhce-holder ! 

But,  what  is  marriage  ?  On  this,  as  on  all  questions  discussed  in  this 
Convention,  each  one  is  responsible  for  his  or  her  own  utterances,  and  for 
none  other.  The  Convention  is  not  responsible  for  what  I  say.  I  utter  my 
own  thoughts,  and  as  to  matter  and  manner  would  secure  my  own  approval, 
without  asking  whether  others  approve  or  not.  Marriage  as  it  ought  to  be, 
and  marriage  as  it  often  is,  —  a  true  marriage,  —  a  fahe  marriage,  —  what 
are  they  ? 

True  marriage.  There  are  two  great,  leading  elements  in  Nature  ;  the 
masculine  and  feminine.  This  distinction  of  sex  extends  through  all  animal 
and  vegetable  life.  God,  as  apprehended  by  me,  is  masculine  and  feminine, 
and  in  this  great  Life-Principle  of  all  things,  that  lives  in  all  life,  and  vital- 
izes all  things,  the  blending  of  these  two  elements  is  perfect,  —  the  twain 
are  one, —  the  God  masculine,  and  the  God  feminine,  the  God-man  and  the 
God-woman,  are  one  in  feeling,  thought,  purpose,  will,  action.  This  being, 
is  our  heavenly  father  and  our  mother.  In  man,  the  masculine  element  of 
nature,  or  the  God-man,  and  in  woman,  the  feminine  element  of  nature,  or  the 
God-woman,  are  more  perfectly  and  fully  manifested  than  in  any  other  ani- 


70  THE    RUTLAND     CONVENTION. 

mal  on  the  planet.  A  "  true  and  natural  marriage,"  in  the  language  of  the 
resolution,  is  the  blending  of  these  two  elements  as  embodied  in  human  form, 
according  to  the  laws  of  nature  that  were  designed  to  govern  their  union. 
The  simple  question  at  issue  is,  what  are  these  natural  laws  ?  For  I  shall 
assume  that,  in  the  government  of  this  element,  or  attribute  of  humanity, 
nature  has,  as  in  every  thing  else,  prescribed  certain  fixed  and  just  laws, 
which  cannot  be  violated  with  impunity. 

The  first  law  of  marriage,  as  fixed  by  nature,  is,  monogamy,  or  one  man  to 
one  woman,  and  one  woman  to  one  man,  exclusive  of  a  third  party.  The 
relation  cannot  exist  between  one  man  and  two  or  more  women,  nor  between 
one  woman  and  two  or  more  men.  The  man  who  lives  with  two  women  as 
"wives,  or  the  woman  who  lives  with  two  men  as  husbands,  take  themselves 
out  from  under  the  law  designed  to  govern  the  blending  of  the  masculine  and 
feminine,  in  the  human  type,  and  put  themselves  under  the  law  of  brute  beasts. 
They  are  moral  monsters.  Nature  repudiates  polygamy,  by  whatever  name 
called.  That  exclusiveness  is  the  law  of  nature  appears  (1)  from  the  fact 
that  the  number  of  each  sex  born  is  nearly  equal,  the  difference,  if  any,  be- 
ing in  favor  of  the  males;  more  males  than  females  being  born  by  some  four 
or  five  in  a  million ;  so  that,  if  either  is  entitled  to  more  than  one,  the  wo- 
man is  to  have  two  or  more  husbands ;  (2)  and  no  man  or  woman,  in  seek- 
ing a  wife  or  husband,  where  a  conjugal  love  exists,  has  a  thought  of  more 
than  one.  Exclusiveness  is  the  feeling  of  each,  in  that  relation,  where  a 
true  conjugal  love  exists.  In  all  ages  and  nations,  even  among  polygamists, 
conjugal  love  in  the  heart  of  man  points  to  one  woman  as  a  wife,  and  con- 
centrates itself  on  her,  and  finds  perfect  rest  and  fulfilment  in  her.  So  in 
the  heart  of  woman  in  regard  to  man.  Man  seizes  and  appropriates  to  him- 
self other  women  for  convenience  or  for  sensual  gratification,  but  the  love 
and  worship  of  his  soul,  as  a  husband,  are  given  to  one,  and  only  one. 

The  true  and  natural  marriage  consists  in  a  love  between  the  two  souls. 
It  is  not  in  the  ceremony,  but  in  the  love  that  blends  the  two  souls  into  one. 
If  there  is  no  marriage  before  the  ceremony,  there  is  none  after ;  the  cere- 
mony cannot  make  a  man  a  husband,  nor  a  woman  a  wife.  A  deep,  holy, 
exclusive  love  alone  can  do  that.  This  love  is  a  necessity  of  our  being. 
Every  man  is  made  to  be  a  husband,  and  every  woman  a  wife,  and  without 
this  consummation,  neither  can  ever  be  what  they  were  designed  to  be,  and 
are  capable  of  being.  Woman,  as  a  wife,  is  a  necessity  of  man's  nature ; 
man,  as  a  husband,  a  necessity  of  woman's  —  as  is  air,  or  food.  Man  loves 
woman  as  a  wife;  woman,  man  as  a  husband,  because  they  must,  not  because 
they  ivill,  or  promise,  or  are  commanded  to  do  it.  Man  can  love  nothing  at 
the  word  of  command,  and  as  a  duty.  He  must  love  what  is  loveable,  he 
cannot  love  what  is  not  loveable.  "  My  dear,"  says  the  man  to  one  he  calls 
wife,  "  I  feel  it  my  solemn  duty  to  love  you ;  God  commands  me  to  love 
you,  and  I  solemnly  promised  to  love  you,  and  I  will  try  to  do  my  duty." 
Poor  fellow !  He  finds  it  hard  work  often.  Better  not  try  to  strain  out 
your  love  in  that  way.  But  to  every  husband  I  say — "  Make  yourself 
loveable  to  your  wife,  and  she  will  love  you;  she  cannot  help  it;  but  if  you 
do  not,  she  will  not  love  you,  she  cannot,  and  she  is  not  to  blame."  Wife, 
do  you  wish  your  husband  to  love  you  ?  Then  make  yourself  loveable  to 
him,  and  he  must  love  you.  In  the  ceremony,  never  promise  to  love,  but 
promise  to  make  yourself  loveable,  each  to  the  other.  A  man's  effort  to 
make  himself  loveable  to  his  wife  will  be  in  proportion  to  the  value  he  puts 
upon  her  love.  Such  is  the  philosophy  of  a  true  marriage.  It  is  love^  not 
law,  nor  lust,  that  constitutes  a  natural  marriage. 


WOMAN*S    RIGHTS.  71 

A  false,  or  sham  marriage.  A  man  and  woman  meet  together,  for  the 
first  time,  in  a  ball  room,  a  social  party,  a  singing  school,  or  a  circus. 
Each  smiles  and  winks  at  the  other.  They  put  on  their  very  best  and 
prettiest  in  dress  and  manners.  They  dance  together,  they  chat  together — 
about  flowers,  pinks,  roses,  stars,  novels,  and  Mr.  So-and-so,  and  Miss  So- 
and-so.  They  take  a  walk  by  moonlight,  or  a  buggy  ride,  and  find  out  that 
each  is  essential  to  the  other,  and  confess  to  undying  love.  They  get  a 
license  to  be  married.  They  are  not  yet  husband  and  wife  before  God  nor 
man.  So  they  stand  up  before  the  priest,  and  he,  in  the  twinkling  of  an 
eye,  makes  him  into  a  husband,  and  her  into  a  wife.  How  ?  He  simply  says 
to  the  man  —  "You  take  the  wortan  you  hold  by  the  hand  to  be  your  wife; 
you  pi'omise  to  love  her,  to  protect  her,  to  provide  for  her,  and  to  keep  tvtfh 
her  till  death  shall  separate  you."  "  /  do,"  whimpers  the  poor,  besotted 
creature.  Then  he  says  to  the  woman — "You  take  the  man  you  hold  by 
the  hand  to  be  your  husband ;  you  promise  to  love  him,  to  be  true  to  him,  to 
obey  him,  and  keep  with  him  till  death  separates  you."  "  I  do,"  faintly  mur-. 
murs  the  poor,  ignorant,  bewildered  creature.  "  Then,"  says  the  priest, 
"  before  GU)d  and  these  witnesses,  I  now  pronounce  you  to  be  husband  and 
wife,  and  what  God  hath  joined  together,  let  not  man  put  asunder."  He 
should  have  said,  "what  God  hath  put  asunder,  let  not  the  priest  put  to- 
gether." Then,  the  Honey-Moon  !  That  soon  goes  down,  and  the  dark- 
ness of  a  living  death  settles  upon  those  hearts ;  not  even  a  moon  ever 
rises  again  on  their  wedded  life.  Poor,  besotted,  ignorant  creatures !  They 
knew  nothing  of  each  other's  physical,  intellectual,  social,  or  moral  con- 
ditions. How  could  they  ?  Yet  they  have  chosen  to  tread  the  hard,  stony 
path  of  life  in  the  most  intimate  relations,  without  love,  without  mutual 
respect,  and  the  end  is  positive  indifference,  or  contempt.  God  pity  the 
millions  of  such  deluded  creatures,  thus  entombed  alive  in  a  loveless  mar- 
riage, through  ignorance,  or  rashness.  They  are  not  to  blame.  They 
know  no  better.  They  could  have  no  holier  view  of  marriage ;  for  who 
ever  taught  them  ?  Parents  are  dumb  ;  the  school  is  dumb  ;  the  pulpit  is 
dumb.  How  should  they  know  their  true  needs  each  in  regard  to  the 
Other  ? 

i'V'ee  Love  ?  The  Tribune,  the  Times,  and  the  priests  and  politicians  that 
follow  their  lead,  denounce  this  as  a  "  Free  Love  "  Convention.  The  very 
men  who,  in  various  ways,  sustain,  propagate,  and  perpetuate  the  adultery, 
the  concubinage,  the  polygamy,  pollutions,  and  incests  of  slavery,  and  of 
Abraham,  Jacob,  David,  and  Solomon,  crying  out  against  " Free  Love"  or 
what  they  call  that,  as  the  damning  sin  of  the  world!  I  wonder — was 
Abraham  a  Free  Lover,  having  his  own  sister  for  a  wife,  and  a  lot  of  others 
to  boot?  Was  Jacob,  with  two  sisters  and  their  two  maids  for  wives?  Was 
David  a  "  Free  Lover  ?  "  Was  Solomon  ?  Yet,  the  Tribune,  the  Times, 
and  the  priests  tell  us  Abraham  was  the  "chosen  of  God;"  David,  a  "man 
after  God's  own  heart;"  and  Solomon,  the  wisest  man  that  ever  was,  or 
was  to  be.  Such,  truly,  are  not  the  men  to  teach  the  world  a  purer  standard 
of  sexual  morality.  But  what  is  meant  by  this  cry  of"  Free  Love  ?"  As 
well  talk  of  free  hunger,  or  free  thirst,  as  of  free  love,  as  a  sentiment,  as 
the  life  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man.  There  is  no  freedom  in  conjugal  love ; 
it  is  a  necessity;  a  fixed  law  of  life  to  the  soul;  a  law  or  necessity  that 
points  to  an  exclusive  relation  between  one  man  and  one  woman,  as  the 
only  true,  natural  marriage.  It  is  a  relation  in  which  no  third  party  can 
possibly  take  a  part,  except  to  put  the  relation  upon  a  public  record,  as  an 
historical  fact.     This  should  be  done  by  government,  and  this  is  all  human 


72  THE     RUTLAND     CONVENTION. 

government  can  do.  Just  let  it  keep  a  record  of  all  marriages,  as  it  does 
of  births  and  deaths.  There  can  be  no  oppression,  no  outrage,  nO  sin,  in  a 
true  and  natural  marriage.  But  all  is  sin,  all  is  outrage,  all  is  oppression, 
all  is  monstrous,  when  a  man  and  woman  live  as  husband  and  wife,  with- 
out a  love  that  absorbs  each  into  the  other,  and  makes  the  twain  one  —  as 
God  is  one.  All  else  is  prostitution,  licensed  or  unlicensed.  Only  in  such 
an  exclusive  love-relation  can  woman  rightly  and  nobly  enter  into  the  rela- 
tion of  a  mother.  When  love,  guided  by  Avisdom,  constitutes  the  marriage, 
man  would  never  outrage  woman  by  imposing  on  her  a  maternity  whose 
responsibilities  and  sufferings  she  is  not  able  nor  willing  to  assume  and  en- 
dure. Of  all  woman's  rights,  her  right  to  decide  for  herself  how  often  and 
under  what  circumstances  she  shall  assume  the  responsibility  and  endure 
the  sufferings  of  maternity  is  the  most  sacred  and  important.  Maternity, 
AND  THE  Relation  that  leads  to  Maternity,  should  ever  be  re- 
garded by  man,  as  a  husband  and  father,  as  the  most  sacred  of  all  subjects. 
It  is  so,  by  every  pure  and  noble  man ;  for  he  feels  and  knows  that  on  these 
two  relations  depend  his  own  individual  development  and  happiness,  the 
purity  and  happiness  of  his  home,  the  health  and  character  of  his  children, 
and  the  destiny  of  the  race.  O  man !  reverence  the  rights  of  thy  wife  in 
regard  to  maternity,  and  the  relation  that  leads  to  it.  Consecrate  thy  man- 
hood, in  all  its  purity,  strength,  and  nobility,  to  the  elevation  and  happiness 
of  thy  wife  and  thy  offspring.  Woman !  respect  this  noblest  and  holiest 
function  of  thy  nature.  As  the  mother  of  the  race,  the  great  law-giver  of 
the  future,  respect  thy  nature  and  thy  mission.  Die,  rather  than  subject 
thyself  to  maternity,  or  to  the  relation  that  leads  to  it,  when  thy  nature  re- 
coils from  it.  Let  not  the  curses  of  an  unwelcome  child  fall 
upon  thee.  Die  rather  than  give  existence  to  children  thou  dost  not  want. 
Shun  the  crime  of  Ante-Natal  murder.  Be  true  to  the  pure  and  noble 
instincts  of  thy  wifely  and  motherly  heart.  Then  mayest  thou  aid  man  to 
a  truer  and  nobler  life  in  his  relations  to  woman,  and  save  thyself  from  the 
doom  to  which  ungoverned  passion,  in  and  out  of  legal  marriage,  now  so 
often  consigns  thee. 

Mrs.  Frances  D.  Gage,  of  Missouri,  was  then  introduced,  and  addressed 
the  Convention  upon  the  following  resolution :  — 

WTiereas,  The  assumed  superiority  of  Man  over  "Woman  has  held  her  in  submission 
and  entailed  slavery  and  dependence  on  the  sex,  and  misery  on  the  race ;  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  immediate  steps  should  be  taken  to  remove  that  error  and  its  conse- 
quences, and  place  Woman  politically,  educationally,  industrially,  and  socially,  on  per- 
fect equality  with  Man. 

SPEECH  OF  MRS.  F.  D.  GAGE. 

My  Friends,  —  I  wish  to  speak  to  this  resolution.  It  will  seem,  I  know, 
like  beginning  to  lay  the  foundation  of  the  house  after  the  superstructure  has 
already  been  built ;  for  in  the  speeches  we  have  had  this  forenoon,  there  has 
been  an  ideal  picture  displayed  before  you  of  the  superiority  of  woman,  and 
of  true  marriage,  and  other  things,  which  is  all  very  beautiful,  and  much  of 
which  I  have  no  disposition  to  dispute.  But  I  must  deal  with  this  matter  as 
it  stands  before  me ;  I  take  things  as  they  are ;  for  it  seems  to  me  that  we 
have  had  very  little  of  that  kind  of  dealing  so  far. 

First,  then,  upon  this  resolution.  "  The  assumed  superiority  of  man  over 
woman  has  held  her  in  submission,  and  entailed  slavery  and  dependence  on 


woman's  rights.  73 

the  sex,  and  misery  on  the  race."  One  of  the  great  men  of  this  nation,  — 
Horace  Mann,  of  Massachusetts,  —  in  one  of  his  admirable  speeches,  makes 
this  assertion  —  I  quote  his  idea,  perhaps  not  his  exact  language  —  that 
Bonaparte,  by  picking  out  the  tall  men  of  France  for  his  armies,  reduced 
the  French  people  two  inches  in  their  stature ;  and  that  the  English  govern- 
ment, by  deciding  that  no  Roman  Catholic  should  teach  school,  under  pains 
and  penalties,  reduced  the  Irish  fore-head  two  inches,  and  added  the  same 
to  the  hind-head.  I  do  not  pretend  to  assert  that  Mr.  Mann  is  right ;  but  if 
it  is  meant  that  the  degradation  of  one  class  can  so  effect  the  whole  body  of 
the  people,  cannot  these  same  statesmen  see  that  when  they  place  the  whole 
half  of  humanity  —  or  the  whole  of  humanity,  taking  Mr.  T)fFany  or  Mrs. 
Farnham's  ideas  —  in  the  sphere  of  inferiority,  they  must  produce  terrible 
effects  upon  the  whole  community  ?  What  have  they  done  for  woman  ? 
Placed  her  in  an  inferior  position  ;  taken  away  from  her  every  political  right 
and  privilege.  We  stand  before  you  to-day,  without  one  vestige  of  political 
right,  and  were  the  men  of  Vermont  to  vote  us  upon  the  auction  block,  as 
the  men  of  Missouri  have  voted  my  sisters,  as  white  as  I  am,  we  should  not 
find  a  stand-point  from  which  to  resist  one  particle  of  this  encroachment. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  has  no  word  that  by  any  torture 
of  language  can  be  construed  into  an  exclusion  of  woman  from  the  right  to 
protect  herself  in  society  by  law  (I  am  speaking  of  laws  now,  not  of  im- 
aginary things,  for  laws  are  potent)  ;  but  it  leaves  it  to  every  State  to  make 
its  own  laws ;  and  "  the  people  "  of  the  States,  as  they  call  themselves,  (in 
violation  of  that  clause  of  the  Constitution,)  who  are  men,  and  who  are  al- 
ways quoting  that  clause  of  the  Constitution  which  guarantees  to  every 
State  in  the  Union  a  Republican  form  of  government,  have  made  laws  which 
have  not  given  "a  Republican  form  of  government"  to  a  single  State  in  the 
Union.  They  say,  "  We,  the  people,"  have  done  this,  &c.  Who  are  "  the 
people  "  ?  I  must  follow  the  record.  Webster  and  Worcester  say  that 
"  people  "  are  a  body  of  persons  that  compose  a  community ;  a  community 
is  a  body  of  persons  living  under  equal  laws ;  a  person  is  a  human  being 
having  a  body  and  soul.  Now,  I  ask  you,  how  many  ''  people  "  in  Ver- 
mont or  Massachusetts  have  bodies  and  souls?  In  the  Northern  States,  the 
"people"  are  the  male  citizens,  twenty-one  years  old  and  upward,  and 
nobody  else ;  in  the  State  where  I  live,  they  are  the  free  white  male  citi- 
zens —  and  these  comprise  the  whole  "  people  "  of  the  United  States ;  — 
showing  you  that  to  the  women  of  America  there  is  not  left  one  vestige  of 
political  power  to  protect  themselves  in  any  right  they  may  have.  But  this 
is  not  all.  "  The  people  "  have  ignored  their  own  acts.  New  York,  for 
instance,  says,  no  person  shall  be  taxed  without  representation.  I  think 
Massachusetts  has  some  such  law,  and  probably  Vermont,  though  I  have 
not  been  here  long  enough  to  examine  your  laws.  But  the  State  of  New 
York  taxes  every  woman  who  has  one  dollar  of  taxable  property,  and  she 
has  no  right  to  protect  herself.  So  with  all  the  States  of  the  Union,  whose 
laws  I  am  acquainted  with. 

I  speak  of  these  things  because  they  are  great,  startling  facts,  and  bring 
before  your  minds  the  idea  of  woman's  inferiority. 

But  in  giving  us  this  right  to  be  taxed,  man  has  given  us  one  plank  of  a 
platform  on  which  to  stand  on  an  equality  of  right.  We  pay  out  our  money 
for  all  the  purposes  of  government.  If  I  happen  to  own  a  dollar  of  prop- 
erty, man  insists  that  I  shall  pay  for  the  support  of  the  infamous  slave  sys- 
tem, that  drags  the  mother  to  the  auction-block,  and  separates  her  from  her 
husband  and  children,  destroys  the  isolated  family,  and  every  thing  beautiful 


74  THE    RUTLAND     CONVENTION. 

in  society,  and  plunges  the  whole  community  into  wickedness  and  wrong. 
Yet  I  have  not  one  particle  of  power  to  resist,  except  my  ''  woman's  influ- 
ence "  —  as  if  man  had  not  as  much  influence  as  woman,  and  all  the  power 
besides  !  I  must  be  taxed,  too,  for  the  support  of  the  army  and  navy, 
and  have  no  power  to  resist.  My  woman's  nature  is  set  aside,  and  man, 
through  his  strong  physical  force,  compels  me  to  do  a  work  at  which  my 
soul  revolts. 

Again,  I  am  taxed  to  support  prisons  and  penitentiaries.  What  are  they 
for?  Ask  the  men  who  fill  them  what  brought  them  there,  and  nineteen- 
twentieths  will  answer,  "•'  Intemperance."  And  yet,  throughout  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  land,  you  will  find  a  grog-shop  on  every  corner ;  and  I 
must  pay  my  tax  to  support  that  evil  —  to  support  the  judiciary  —  to  sup- 
port the  criminal  code  —  with  no  particle  of  power  to  resist  the  evil,  except 
my  personal  influence  ;  and  then,  when  I  go  out  to  lecture  on  this  subject, 
to  teach  women  what  I  consider  their  duty,  man  meets  me  with  the  sneer — 
"  You  are  out  of  your  sphere  !  " 

Men  say  to  us  that  their  laws  are  just.  Only  a  day  or  two  ago,  I  had  a 
long  discussion  with  a  man  who  asked,  "  What,  in  the  name  of  God,  can 
women  want  that  they  have  not  got?"  First,  I  want  the  right  to  myself; 
for  man  has  made  a  law  and  placed  it  upon  the  statute-book,  that  if  I  wish 
to  enter  into  the  conjugal  relation  of  life,  I  must  consent  to  certain  regula- 
tions which  man  has  made,  without  consulting  any  woman  whatever.  First, 
I  must  give  up  myself  to  the  man ;  for,  as  Mrs.  Rose  says,  the  old  common 
law  says  the  man  and  wife  are  one  —  the  existence  of  the  woman  is  sus- 
pended, consolidated  in  that  of  her  husband,  under  whose  command  or 
direction  she  does  every  thing.  It  is  Lord  Eldon,  not  Blackstone,  who 
says  the  husband  and  wife  are  one,  and  that  one  is  the  husband.  We  have 
thus  two  authorities.  Blackstone  says  the  existence  of  the  woman  is  sus- 
pended ;  Eldon  says  the  husband  and  wife  are  one,  and  that  one  is  the  hus- 
band. Let  me  suppose  a  couple  want  to  be  married.  I  will  say  they  love 
each  other  supremely ;  that  they  have  studied  each  other's  characters  for 
years,  and  want  to  come  into  this  holy  relation,  what  must  the  woman  do  ? 
Consent  to  be  consolidated,  suspended,  to  surrender  her  legal  existence,  in 
most  of  the  States.  With  this,  her  person  comes  wholly  into  the  hands  of 
the  man.  You  have  heard  a  good  deal  about  maternity  to-day.  Here  is 
the  origin  of  much  of  the  wrong  that  exists  in  connection  with  that  function, 
in  the  law  of  marriage,  that  suspends  the  woman  in  the  man,  and  gives  her 
no  power  of  resistance.  Under  the  old  law,  the  husband  had  the  right  to 
correct  the  wife,  if  he  did  not  use  a  stick  bigger  than  his  thumb ;  and  the 
stick  is  sometimes  used  pretty  freely  even  now.     [Laughter.] 

Next,  I  want  the  right  to  my  own  earnings.  Until  within  the  last  eight 
years,  there  was  not  a  State  in  the  Union  that  gave  the  wife  her  own 
earnings;  and  in  proof  of  this  let  me  say,  that  in  1854,  Massachusetts 
made  a  law  expressly  to  set  aside  the  common  law,  declaring  that  a  woman 
should  have  the  right  to  her  own  earnings,  if  she  carried  on  business  in  her 
own  name,  and  to  put  money  in  the  savings  banks,  and  draw  it  out ; 
because  the  banks  found  it  expedient  to  have  such  a  law,  for  sometimes, 
when  the  wife  had  drawn  out  the  money,  the  husband  sued  the  bank,  and 
collected  it  a  second  time.  Missouri  has  made  a  law,  that  if  a  man,  through 
drunkenness  or  worthlessness,  fails  to  provide  for  his  wife,  so  that  she  shall 
be  compelled  to  labor  for  her  own  support,  she  shall  have  the  right  to  her 
own  earnings  !  Ls  not  that  a  beautiful  law,  in  this  noon  of  the  nineteenth 
century  ?     Only  the  drunkard's  or  the  worthless  man's  wife  is  to  have  this 


woman's  rights.  75 

right ;  the  law  presupposes  that  all  other  men  will  be  good,  and  just,  and 
fair ;  so  that  it  gives  rather  a  premium,  I  think,  on  crime,  and  tiie  woman 
who  can  force  her  husband  or  induce  him  to  take  a  good  dram  now  and  then, 
and  become  worthless,  will  secure  a  little  right  to  herself!  A  woman  can- 
not sue  or  be  sued,  in  most  of  the  States,  without  the  consent  of  her  hus- 
band, no  matter  what  the  provocation  may  be.  If  she  be  injured  in  person 
or  property,  and  suit  is  brought,  the  damages  become  his.  I  knew  a  case 
like  this  :  a  woman  prosecuted  a  stage  coach  company  for  damages,  she 
having  had  her  jaw  broken  by  the  upsetting  of  a  coach,  and  recovered 
three  thousand  dollars.  Her  husband  received  the  money,  —  for  the  stage 
company  promptly  paid  it  over,  —  and  as  he  did  so,  he  turned  to  his  com- 
panions and  said,  "  That  is  the  easiest  way  of  making  money  1  ever  knew. 
Who  wouldn't  have  his  wife's  jaw  broken  for  three  thousand  dollars  ? " 
[Laughter.]  You  laugh,  my  friends,  as  if  this  was  a  singular  case,  but  I 
tell  you  the  same  principle  is  acted  out  about  you  every  day  of  your  lives, 
and  if  you  have  watched  as  carefully  as  I  have,  you  have  seen  the  last 
pocket-handkerchief  that  would  bring  money,  taken  to  the  grog-shop  to  be 
exchanged  for  rum.  In  some  of  the  States  there  is  a  law  which  gives  the 
wife  the  right  to  her  own  wearing  apparel  after  the  husband's  death  ;  which 
proves  that  before  his  death  she  never  was  entitled  to  her  wearing  apparel ! 
So  that  a  married  woman  has  no  right,  either  to  her  own  person  or  her  own 
property.  Indeed,  she  has  no  right  to  her  own  conscience  ;  for  any  crime 
which  she  commits,  by  his  consent  or  command,  he  pays  the  penalty  for, 
unless  it  be  death  or  the  State  prison.  Whenever  it  comes  to  that,  the 
magnanimity  of  man  has  stopped  —  made  a  pause.  He  concludes  that  it  is 
magnanimous  for  him  to  pay  any  penalty  short  of  this  ;  but  that  it  will  be 
magnanimous  to  let  her  hang  on  her  own  hook,  and  go  to  the  penitentiary 
in  her  own  person.  [Laughter.]  Hence  her  conscience  is  under  her 
husband's  control,  for  if  she  commits  the  crime  under  his  authority,  she  is 
not  responsible  any  more  than  the  minor.  No  wonder  you  find  fraud  and 
deception  among  women,  for  what  else  can  they  do  ? 

Last  of  all,  woman  is  not  entitled  to  her  children.  The  law  declares  the 
father  the  natural  guardian  of  the  child.  Was  there  ever  monstrosity  equal 
to  this  ?  The  father  in  California,  or  Australia,  perhaps,  when  the  child 
gives  its  first  cry,  and  yet  he  declared  the  "  natural  guardian  "  of  the  young 
existence ! 

In  most  of  the  States,  a  man  may  will  away  every  child  he  has.  In 
Pennsylvania,  I  see,  a  man  did  it.  It  is  the  common  law  of  the  land,  and 
only  here  and  there,  some  speciality  prevents  this  horrible  injustice.  I 
knew  a  man  who  was  so  magnanimous,  when  he  lost  all  his  property  by  the 
revulsion  of  the  times,  as  to  take  a  dose  of  laudanum,  and  man-like,  die, 
leaving  a  wife  and  five  children  ;  and  he  made  a  will,  by  which  he  gave 
every  one  of  them  away,  even  to  one  not  yet  born !  Think  of  the  power 
of  the  law  that  gives  the  husband  this  right,  and  then  ask  us,  if  you  can, 
to  wait  until  we  reach  that  sublimated  state  about  which  we  have  heard, 
before  we  complain ! 

A  man  may  send  his  daughter  to  a  brothel  to  gain  money  to  pay  his 
dram  bill ;  it  has  been  done  over  and  over  again.  A  man  may  put  his 
son  to  any  calling,  no  matter  how  debasing,  and  the  mother's  prayer  is  use- 
less. Does  she  go  to  a  court  to  complain? —  what  does  she  meet  ?  A  man- 
judge,  a  man-jury,  a  man-sheriff,  a  man-lawyer,  men  in  every  department 
to  meet  her  woman's  nature,  and  not  a  woman  to  speak  one  word  in  her 
behalf     And  yet,  you  ask  us  to  be  content !  and,  women,  you  fold  your 


76  THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

arms  and  say,  "We  liave  rights  enough  !"  —  "Our  husbands  let  us  do  just  as 
we  have  a  mind  to !  "  Yes,  your  husbands  "  let "  you  ;  the  very  word  ex- 
plains your  position ;  but  you  cannot  do  it  under  our  present  laws,  unless 
they  "  let "  you. 

But  here  comes  up  a  lawyer  and  says  to  me,  "  A  woman  has  the  right  to 
one-third  of  all  the  property  of  the  husband."  How  ?  Has  she  any  con- 
trol over  it  while  he  lives  ?  "  Oh,  if  he  wants  to  sell  it,  she  can  refuse  to 
sign  her  name."  What  then  ?  She  has  no  right  to  her  own  earnings  to 
sustain  herself,  if  he  chooses  to  create  antagonism  in  the  household,  because 
he  cannot  have  his  own  way  ;  and  she  is  compelled  to  sign  away  her  thirds, 
because  she  has  not  the  ability  to  stand  before  him  and  say,  "  I  must  not  and 
I  will  not." 

Is  this  third  hers  when  he  is  dead,  by  law  ?  No.  She  is  probably  left 
without  one  article  in  fee  simple,  unless  it  be  a  little  bit  of  household  prop- 
erty. In  some  States,  they  are  so  good  to  woman  as  to  declare  that  she 
may  have  one  table,  six  chairs,  six  knives  and  forks,  six  plates,  six  cups  and 
saucers,  one  sugar  bowl,  one  cream  pitcher,  and  twelve  spoons  !  [Loud 
laughter,]  Down  in  Illinois,  she  may  have  all  the  carding  and  spinning 
wheels,  and  weaving-looms,  a  cooking-stove,  and  the  pipe  thereof!  [Renew- 
ed laughter.]  She  may  have  so  many  hogs,  and  the  pork  thereof ;  so  many 
sheep,  and  the  wool  thereof ;  and  all  the  woven  cloth  which  she  has  marmfac- 
tured  in  the  house.  She  may  have  sixteen  dolhirs'  worth  of  household  fur- 
niture ;  and  she  may  have  her  husband's  old  clothes  in  almost  all  the  States  ! 
[Laughter.]  And  even  for  this,  the  woman  must  have  men  appraisers 
come  into  the  house,  and  tell  how  the  thing  shall  be  done.  I  never  heard 
of  a  female  appraiser,  when  a  disputed  estate  was  to  be  settled. 

So,  through  the  entire  range  of  these  laws,  I  find  injustice.  A  man  may 
make  a  will,  and  will  all  his  property  away,  except  his  wife's  right  of 
dower  ;  which  means  that  she  shall  have  an  interest  in  this  right  of  dower 
during  her  natural  life,  but  not  one  cent  to  will  away  or  to  do  good  with, 
except  what  she  can  grasp  out  of  it.  Suppose  it  be  a  lot  of  wild  land  on 
your  mountains  —  what  will  it  be  worth?  What  she  pays  out  for  taxes  ?  I 
have  known  many  a  woman  compelled  to  pay  taxes  on  property. she  had  no 
power  to  sell,  and  no  power  to  help  herself  in  the  world. 

A  man  may  make  a  will  giving  away  the  property  of  his  wife  before  her 
marriage.  I  have  heard  of  such  wills.  One  of  the  great  men  of  the 
North,  —  I  think  it  was  a  Van  Rensalaer,  —  made  a  will,  willing  to  his 
wife  a  diamond  ring,  given  to  her  hy  her  mother,  while  she  remained  a  widow  ; 
but  if  she  married  again,  this  diamond  ring,  given  to  her  by  her  mother, 
was  to  go  to  his  daughter  Mary  ?     I  am  dealing  in  facts,  my  friends. 

Look  at  your  divorce  laws.  I  do  not  know  what  they  are  in  Vermont, 
but  I  do  know  what  they  are  in  Missouri,  in  Illinois,  and  in  other  States, 
and  we  are  talking  for  all  the  States,  and  we  have  come  from  all  the  States 
to  attend  this  Convention.  In  one  of  the  States,  if  a  divorce  be  granted  for 
the  fault  of  the  woman,  she  shall  leave  her  husband,  without  her  dower, 
without  any  thing ;  but  if  it  be  for  the  fault  of  the  man,  she  shall  have  the 
widow's  dower,  and  he  shall  have  the  other  two-thirds.  That  is,  if  he  com- 
mits the  crime,  he  is  to  have  two-thirds  of  the  property;  if  she  commits  the 
crime,  she  is  to  have  —  nothing  !  That  is  man's  justice  to  woman.  Who  is 
to  blame  for  it  ?     Is  it  you  or  I,  or  generations  long  gone  by  ? 

Now,  what  is  to  be  done  to  correct  all  this  ?  Are  we  to  leave  woman 
under  these  laws,  and  allow  man  still  to  execute  them  ?  I  hear  the  answer 
from  hundreds,  perchance  —  for  my  ear  has  grown  quick  in  hearing  — 


woman's  rights.  77 

"  "Why,  man  will  right  all  these  wrongs."  And  again  comes  the  answer, 
"  No  man  but  a  mean  man  will  do  any  thing  like  this."  I  tell  you,  a  man 
can  be  no  meaner  than  the  law  which  gives  him  the  sanction  to  do  such 
things.  But  we  are  asked  to  trust  to  the  men  to  right  all  these  wrongs. 
Do  you  men  trust  each  other?  The  Republicans,  the  Know-Nolhings,  the 
Whigs,  the  Democrats,  all  unite  together,  and  do  not  trust  anybody  but 
themselves.  And  yet  people  who  thus  unite  together,  with  cool  impudence 
ask  one-half  the  human  race,  and  that  half,  too,  the  one  they  are  always 
telling  us  is  so  much  purer  and  better,  so  much  holier  and  more  beautiful, 
in  all  their  relations  of  life,  than  the  other,  to  trust  them  ;  —  calling  each 
other  scamps,  but  showing  themselves  to  be  good  men,  wherever  women 
are  concerned  !     [Laughter  and  applause.] 

"  T  would  not,"  said  a  learned  judge  to  me  last  week,  "  I  would  not,  for 
my  life,  give  any  sanction  to  the  idea  of  dragging  women  into  the  position 
of  men  in  the  politics  of  the  country.  It  would  utterly  destroy  all  morality 
and  virtue  —  we  men  are  such  brutes."  "My  dear  sir,"  said  I,  "I  am  tired 
of  having  '  brutes '  make  laws  for  me ;  and  if  I  am  so  much  purer  and 
better,  let  me  help  make  my  own."  [Applause.]  I  have  no  time  to  argue 
the  question  whether  woman  will  be  elevated  or  depressed  by  this,  but  I 
have  this  one  word  to  say  —  in  my  own  soul,  I  demand  to  stand  in  a  posi- 
tion where  I  can  protect  myself;  where  the  law,  made  by  another,  shall 
not  coerce  me  into  measures  I  abhor,  without  at  least  a  struggle  on  my  part 
to  resist  it.  For  my  own  soul's  sake,  I  demand  to  be  heard,  and  to  use  my 
power  and  influence  in  all  the  great  moral  questions  of  the  age.  It  is  not 
enough  that  we  have  what  the  world  calls  smiles  and  graces.  We  see  that 
these  have  not  won  the  world  into  the  light  of  truth,  though  we  have  been 
trying  eighteen  hundred  years,  and  if  we  go  on  for  eighteen  hundred  years 
more,  as  we  have  in  the  past,  we  shall  get  humanity  very  nearly  up  to  the 
level  of  the  Hottentot.  [Laughter  and  applause,]  Why,  ray  friends,  even 
the  North  American  Indian  mother  who  has  raised  a  brave,  has  a  right  for- 
ever after  in  the  counsels  of  her  nation,  and  no  chieftain,  however  grand  or 
great,  dares  disipute  her  power  and  influence  there ;  and,  I  fancy,  if  there 
are  any  "  braves  "  in  New  England  or  anywhere  else,  we  have  had  some- 
thing to  do  with  raising  them,  and  it  is  time  we  took  our  places  by  their 
sides,  to  help  harmonize  humanity  into  love  for  the  right.     [Applause.] 

We  have  heard  a  great  deal  of  talk  about  the  love  principle  in  woman. 
Our  friend,  Mr.  Evans,  repeated  the  oft-quoted  text,  "  God  is  love  " ;  Mr. 
Tiffany  asserts  the  love  principle  in  woman;  Mrs.  Farnham  asserts  it;  and  I 
honor  it.  But  what  is  love  ?  Let  me  repeat  Mr.  Evans'  text  —  "  God  is 
love  " ;  and  if  we  have  more  love  than  man  has,  then  we  are  better  fitted  to 
make  laws,  better  adapted  to  harmonize  humanity  than  man,  with  his  cold 
reason  and  power.  Let  us  come  nearer  to  the  Deity ;  and  if  man's  physi- 
cal power  is  needed,  and  if  his  reason  is  necessary,  let  us  unite  reason  and 
love  together  for  once,  and  see  what  it  will  do.  As  old  Martin  Luther  said 
to  the  priest  who  told  him  that  it  would  never  do  to  give  the  people  infor- 
mation, "  I  say,  let  us  try ; "  so  I  say,  "  let  us  try  what  love  and  reason  to- 
gether can  do  in  making  more  just  laws." 

I  was  met  with  the  question,  from  a  friend  from  the  grand  old  mother 
country,  here — "  You  claim  political  equality  with  man:  would  you  go  to 
war  ? "  I  answered,  "  I  do  not  believe  in  war."  His  reply  was,  "  We 
must  take  things  as  they  exist."  "  Then,"  I  answered,  and  I  answer  em- 
phatically here,  "  let  me  go  to  war,  if  war  must  be.  Man  boasts  that  he  is 
intellectually  greater  than  I,  and  physically  stronger  than  I,  and  he  can  make 


78  THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

a  better  living  for  the  children  than  I.  Let  me  go  and  be  shot  down,  if 
necessary,  and  let  him  take  care  of  the  children."  Did  you  ever  think  of 
that,  my  friends?  The  wife  lays  her  husband  a  sacrifice  on  the  altar  of  her 
country,  and  agrees,  with  all  the  weakness  of  her  woman's  nature,  which 
you  are  always  telHng  about,  to  take  the  responsibilities  and  duties  of  a 
man.  and  journey  on  through  God's  appointed  years  alone,  that  you  may  send 
her  husband  to  war,  to  fight  some  unrighteous  battle,  to  extend  the  area  of 
slavery,  to  make  other  wives  and  children  widows  and  orphans,  in  more 
senses  than  one.  If  we  must  have  war,  I  will  tell  you  how  I  would  carry 
it  on.  I  would  have  the  women  go  out  in  solid  phalanx,  with  their  children 
in  their  arms,  and  put  the  men  in  the  centre,  and  say  to  those  who  marched 
against  us  as  enemies,  "We  do  as  we  would  be  done  by,  —  the  oldest 
principle  of  morality  in  the  world.  And  as  we  would  not  be  made  widows, 
and  have  our  children  fatherless,  so  we  would  not  make  your  wives  widows 
and  your  children  fatherless.  But  here  we  stand ;  and  if  you  choose  to  go 
over  our  bodies,  do  it,  but  not  otherwise  shall  you  reach  the  better  half  of 
our  nature,  our  husbands." 

Like  Mrs.  Rose,  I  have  a  husband  who  is  "  a  law  unto  himself."  I  have 
never  suffered,  but  the  sunlight  of  love  has  given  me  light  to  see  the  op- 
pressions around  me.  I  would  stir  up  discontent  in  the  heart  of  every 
woman,  until  she  arouses  herself,  and  asserts  the  dignity  of  her  woman- 
hood,—  until  she  stands  forth  the  untrammelled  thing  which  man  claims  she 
has  the  right  to  be,  —  until  she  elevates  her  own  nature,  and  gives  to  her 
own  mind  and  body,  and  every  faculty  and  power  she  possesses,  its  utmost 
development,  for  the  good  of  herself  first,  and  for  the  race  afterwards,  and 
refuses  to  allow  herself  to  be  made  the  dwarfish  creature  she  now  is.  And 
■while  woman  is  thus  cramped  and  fettered,  man  must  be  degraded.  Can 
you  have  a  bold,  noble  manhood,  while  you  have  not  a  single  particle  of 
independent  womanhood  in  the  country  ?  No !  There  is  not  a  woman  who 
does  not  feel  that  she  can  do  nothing  without  freedom  of  action ;  and  while 
we  have  to  fight  such  battles  as  we  do  now  to  gain  even  an  inch  of  foothold, 
to  gain  even  the  right  of  speech,  which  is  denied  over  half  the  territory  of 
the  United  States,  I  feel  that  none  of  us  can  assert  that  we  are  free  any 
where ;  we  have  not  even  free  speech. 

"  But,"  cries  out  some  one,  "  in  all  the  ages  past,  we  have  never  had  any 
instance  of  man's  placing  woman  on  a  political  equality  with  himself." 
"What  if  you  have  not  ?  In  all  the  ages  of  the  past,  perhaps,  you  have 
never  seen  such  a  Convention  as  this ;  but  you  have  set  the  precedent,  and 
I  hope  there  will  be  a  great  many  more.  John  P.  Hale  has  said  "  This  is 
no  age  for  following  precedents,  but  for  forming  them,"  —  and  I  respond  to 
that  sentiment. 

"  New  occasions  teach  new  duties ;  Time  makes  ancient  good  uncouth  ; 
He  must  upward  still,  and  onward,  who  would  keep  abreast  of  Truth, 
Lo !  before  us  gleam  her  camp-fires,  we  ourselves  must  pilgrims  be. 
Launch  our  Mayflower,  and  steer  boldly  through  the  desperate  winter  sea, 
Nor  attempt  the  future's  portal  with  the  Past's  blood-rusted  key." 

I  hope  every  woman  here  within  the  sound  of  my  voice  has  received  a 
seed  of  discontent  that  will  take  root ;  and  if  the  heel  of  oppression  con- 
temns and  spurns  it,  it  will  but  be  buried  the  deeper  in  the  soil,  and  sooner  or 
later  the  sun  of  truth  will  give  it  life ;  it  will  live  and  grow,  the  spire  will 
spring  up  of  itself,  and  press  onward  and  upward,  until  a  great  tree  shall 


woman's  rights.  79 

stretch  out  its  arms,  and  the  whole  nation  shall  come  and  shelter  itself  be- 
neath its  shade.     [Loud  applause.] 

Some  one  has  just  handed  in  a  resolution,  which  I  will  read :  — 

Resolved,  That  the  progress  of  humanity  demands  that  every  man  and  woman  in  this 
assembly  sign  a  petition,  to  be  presented  to  every  Legislature  in  the  United  States,  ask- 
ing that  women  shall  have  equal  rights  with  man. 

Mr.  Evans.  Friends,  I  stand  before  you  on  this  occasion  for  the  pur- 
pose mainly  of  stating  some  facts.  I  know  that  you  are  a  people  who  want 
facts  as  well  as  theories.  The  speaker  who  has  preceded  me  has  stated  to 
you  some  very  important  and  practical  facts,  having  a  bearing  upon  the 
subject  under  discussion.  I  belong  to  an  order  of  people  who  are  similar 
in  sentiment  to  myself,  who  have  reduced  to  practice  the  principle  of  the 
equality,  if  you  please,  of  the  sexes — that  is,  equality  in  order.  They 
have  reduced  to  practice,  for  seventy  years,  the  principle  that  woman  has 
the  right  to  govern  her  own  affairs,  in  her  own  order,  as  much  as  man  has 
the  right  to  govern  the  affairs  of  his  order ;  and  I  put  it  to  you  for  consid- 
eration, whether  you  will  ever  find  the  true  remedy  for  the  difRculties  that 
have  been  mentioned  here  to-day  until  you  begin  with  the  theology.  The 
religious  sentiment  is  the  most  powerful  in  man  and  woman,  and  until  that 
is  put  in  operation,  and  the  theology  arising  from  it  corrected,  it  is  my  im- 
pression that  your  labors  will  be  in  vain. 

While  you  are  taught,  and  millions  believe,  that  the  Deity  is  composed 
of  three  men  —  three  male  beings  —  who  have  coalesced  together  to  gov- 
ern all  creation,  what  is  the  necessary  consequence  ?  Why,  that  man  has 
the  right  of  governing  all  creation.  Hence,  in  all  our  churches,  whether 
they  be  Catholic  or  Protestant,  you  find  no  government  recognized  but  that 
of  the  man.  The  Catholic  Pope  is  a  man  ;  the  female  is  not  represented. 
Our  Protestant  Popes,  Luther  and  Calvin,  they  were  men ;  the  female 
was  not  represented.  In  all  our  churches,  which  have  their  popes,  there  is 
no  female  represented.  Is  not  this  a  fact  ?  Hence,  in  all  our  secular  gov- 
ernments, the  same  principle  is  carried  out  —  man  rules  and  governs,  as 
has  been  set  forth  here  to-day. 

Now,  my  friends,  I  put  it  to  you  for  your  consideration,  whether  we  must 
not  begin  at  the  foundation,  the  first  principle  ?  Let  us  be  as  sure  that  we 
have  got  a  Heavenly  Mother  to  look  up  to,  to  sympathize  with  us,  to  feel  for 
us,  as  we  have  been,  that  we  have  got  a  Heavenly  Father,  of  whom  we 
hear  so  much.  Why  is  it,  that  whenever  God  is  mentioned,  it  is  always  as 
a  great  and  powerful  man  ?  Why  is  this  ?  Where  is  the  truth  of  it  ? 
Where  is  its  foundation  in  nature  ?  Do  we  not  find,  in  the  people  before 
us,  male  and  female  ?  Do  we  not  find  that  in  the  creation,  in  all  the  works 
of  God,  as  we  call  them,  every  thing  stands  before  us  in  the  order  of  male 
and  female  ?  "  Like  causes  produce  like  effects."  Whence  comes  the 
feminine  element  ?  Where  is  its  fountain,  its  source  ?  Where  is  the  origi- 
nal type  of  woman  ?  It  is  in  nature.  It  is  in  our  Heavenly  Mother,  that  I 
proclaim  here  before  you  to-day,  that  I  just  as  much  believe  in,  just  as 
much  pray  to,  as  the  child  believes  in  the  existence  of  its  mother.  Do  your 
children  believe  only  in  a  father?  Do  they  ignore  the  mother  ?  Are  they 
ignorant  of  the  feminine  element?  Not  at  all.  It  is  the  mother  that  ushers 
them  into  being ;  it  is  the  mother  that  nurses  them  ;  it  is  the  mother  that 
clothes  and  feeds  them,  and  attends  to  their  daily  needs.  That  is  the  fact. 
Now,  mothers  and  sisters,  teach  your  children  that  so  sure  as  you  exist,  so 


80  THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

sure  have  you  got  a  fountain  from  whence  your  existence  proceeded  as 
women.  These  little  ones  are  capable  of  understanding  you.  I  spoke  once 
at  a  meeting  of  Progressive  Friends  in  Pennsylvania,  where  there  was  an 
assembly  expressly  for  children,  and  a  beautiful  meeting  it  was.  These 
children  were  spoken  to  by  friend  Samuel  J.  May,  an  eloquent  speaker 
and  a  beautiful  man.  He  talked  to  them  of  God,  and  illustrated  to  them, 
from  the  family  order,  how  they  certainly  had  a  God,  a  Heavenly  Father, 
to  whom  they  must  learn  to  look,  in  whom  they  must  believe,  because  they 
had  an  earthly  father,  who  loved  them,  watched  over  them,  and  supplied  all 
their  needs.  He  illustrated  this  in  a  beautiful  and  simple  manner,  and  I 
followed  him,  and  appealed  to  those  children  if  they  had  not  there  present, 
or  at  their  homes,  mothers,  who  fed,  clothed,  and  cared  for  them,  as  surely 
as  they  had  fathers.  The  little  children  responded  "  Amen  "  to  it.  They 
understood  it ;  they  believed  it.  I  then  told  them  that  so  sure  as  their 
earthly  father  was  a  type  of  God,  their  Heavenly  Father,  so  surely  was 
their  earthly  mother  a  type  of  their  Heavenly  Mother ;  and  I  believe  they 
understood  it.  Truth  is  simple ;  the  youthful  mind  receives  it  readily. 
Have  more  faith  in  your  children.  Teach  them  simple  truth ';  teach  them 
a  true  theology;  cease  the  propagation  of  this  unnatural  theology,  with 
which  the  world  has  so  long  been  cursed.  Begin  to  teach  the  simple  truths 
of  nature  ;  illustrate  and  confirm  these  truths  by  the  great  Bible  of  Nature, 
that  was  written  before  the  book  called  the  Bible  was  ever  thought  of. 
Hence  the  Apostle  Paul  says,  "  The  invisible  things  of  God  from  the  foun- 
dation of  the  world  are  clearly  seen,  being  understood  by  the  things  that 
are  made,  even  his  eternal  power  and  Godhead" — male  and  female.  Now, 
if  the  invisible  things  were  clearly  seen  in  the  works  of  God,  then  there  is 
the  place  to  refer  to. 

Thomas  Curtis,  of  Philadelphia.  I  was  very  glad  to  hear  the  remarks  of 
Mr.  Evans,  not  because  I  believe  that  there  is  a  male  God  and  a  female  God 
up-stairs  somewhere,  but  because  it  illustrates  a  very  important  position 
with  regard  to  woman's  rights,  namely,  the  perfect  individuality  of  woman. 
"We  have  had  some  speakers  here  who  have  taken  the  ground  that  women 
are  equal  to  men,  and  therefore  that  they  should  have  their  rights.  Another 
ground  has  been  that  women  are  superior  to  men,  and  therefore  they  should 
have  their  rights.  I  think  there  is  ground  which  stands  behind  all  this.  We 
do  not  declare,  among  men,  that  because  one  man  is  equal  to  another,  therefore 
he  has  rights,  but  that  he  has  rights  because  he  is  an  individual  of  the  human 
race;  and  on  that  ground  I  think  it  is  sufficient  if  we  admit  that  woman  is 
a  member  of  the  human  race,  and  has  all  the  rights  and  all  the  privileges 
which  pertain  to  human  beings  in  society.  Now,  I  want  to  say  to  you  mar- 
ried women,  when  your  husbands  come  to  you  and  say,  "  My  dear,  you  and 
I  perfectly  sympathize  with  each  other ;  you  and  I  are  one ;  you  and  I  are 
united  together  and  form  one  perfect  being,"  they  are  humbugging  you. 
[Laughter.]  You  and  your  husband  are  two  individuals.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary for  your  happiness  that  you  should  think  alike  on  every  thing  ;  it  is  nOt 
necessary  that  you  should  act  alike,  or  walk  in  the  same  paths  of  daily  life ; 
but  it  is  necessary  for  your  happiness  that  each  man  and  woman,  whether 
married  or  unmarried,  should  exercise,  their  own  individuality;  that  they 
should  think  for  themselves  and  act  for  themselves.  Why,  if  man  and 
woman,  together,  when  married,  form  a  pair  of  scissors,  what  becomes  of 
Henry  C.  Wright's  idea  that  the  authority  of  every  human  soul  is  supreme  ? 
It  is  annihilated  at  once.  When  you  find,  young  women,  (I  am  referring 
now  to  young  unmarried  women)  — when  you  find  a  young  man  who  comes 


woman's  eights.  81 

to  you  and  says,  "  My  dear,  you  and  I  are  perfectly  sympathetic ;  you  and 
I  are  one  individual,  and  designed  to  remain  so  through  all  this  life  and 
through  all  other  possible  lives"  —  take  my  word  for  it,  he  is  humbugging 
you  !  [Laughter.]  You  are  a  fool  if  you  believe  him  !  I  know  a  great 
many  people  who  preach  these  doctrines,  but  whose  practices  are  far  differ- 
ent. They  find  a  young  woman  with  whom  they  assume  to  have  this  per- 
fect sympathy  and  oneness,  but  as  soon  as  the  consequences  which  they 
wish  to  follow  from  that  sympathy  have  been  obtained,  they  go  to  some  other 
woman,  and  talk  to  her  in  the  same  strain ;  they  are  continually  changing 
their  "sympathy"  and  "oneness"  from  one  object  to  another!  If  the  man 
feels  attracted  by  sympathy  to  the  woman,  and  the  woman  to  the  man,  let 
them  unite  themselves  together,  to  devote  their  individual  strength  to  the 
purposes  of  use.  If  they  want  to  build  a  house,  let  them  unite  as  both  may 
best  agree,  and  build  it ;  if  they  want  to  enter  into  any  other  work,  whether 
it  be  having  children  or  any  other  purpose  connected  with  the  family  or 
marriage  relation,  they  can  do  so,  —  unite  together  as  two  individuals,, 
and  maintain  their  perfect  individuality.  Our  friends,  Mrs.  Rose,  and 
Mrs.  Gage,  have  told  you  that  they  are  married.  So  am  I,  although  I 
have  not  been  married  twenty  years,  as  they  have  been.  I  married  myself 
to  my  wife,  and  she  married  herself  to  me,  upon  the  express  understanding,, 
not  that  God  sanctified  it  —  we  did  not  want  God  in  the  matter  —  not  that, 
it  was  sanctioned  by  magistrate  or  priest,  because  we  cast  that  idea  aside  as 
none  of  their  business  —  but  because  we  saw  that  we  could  in  marriage- 
fulfil  our  highest  and  best  use,  and  carry  out  our  happiness  to  the  fullest 
extent.  When  we  were  married,  we  expressed  that  sentiment,  and  when, 
we  agree  to  separate,  we  shall  accomplish  that  separation  without  the  help- 
of  God,  or  priest,  or  magistrate  —  we  don't  want  the  consent  of  either  of 
the  three  —  we  do  not  want  to  be  united  because  God  unites  us,  and  we 
will  not  be  separated  because  God  separates  us.  We  will  act  upon  our 
own  judgment  and  opinions  ;  each  respecting  the  impressions,  not  which  I 
state,  or  which  she  states,  but  the  impressions  which  are  for  both, and  which; 
are  the  common  property  of  all,  and  as  such  to  be  used  both  by  men  and 
women.  Let  every  man  and  woman,  in  the  marriage  relation  as  well  as 
out  of  it,  understand  that  they  are  not  half  a  pair  of  scissors,  but  whole 
pairs,  cutting  out  their  own  work.  It  does  not  matter  what  kind  of  work  it 
is ;  they  are  both  a  perfect  pair  of  scissors,  calculated  to  do  a  perfect  work, . 
and  as  such  can  do  their  work  and  do  not  require  to  get  husbands  or  wives 
to  help  them  do  that  work,  but  each  is  required  to  do  his  or  her  own  work. 
Henry  C.  Wright  offered  the  following  resolutions :  — 

Resolved,  That  this  Convention  instruct  the  Business  Committee  to  prepare,  as  they 
have  thus  far  done,  a  programme  of  exercises  for  the  Convention,  designating  the  order 
in  which  the  general  topics  of  discussion  shall  he  taken  up;  and  that  the  speakers  who 
shall  tiius  be  appointed  by  the  Committee  to  introduce  topics,  shall  be  limited,  like 
voluntary  speakers,  to  ten  minutes,  unless  the  time  is  extended  by  vote  of  the  Conven- 
tion. 

Resolved,  That  the  several  schedules  of  the  Business  Committee,  thus  prepared,^  shall 
be  the  guides  for  the  Chair  in  directing  the  debates  of  the  Convention. 

These  resolutions,  after   some  discussion,   in  which  Messrs.  Chandler,. 
Wright,  Foster,  Clayton,  and  Cutting  took  part,  were  adopted,  after  which, 
the  Convention  adjourned. 
6 


82  THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

AFTERNOON    SESSION. 

The  Convention  was  called  to  order  at  two  o'clock. 

The  President  announced  that,  in  accordance  with  the  programme  sub- 
mitted by  the  Business  Committee,  the  discussions  of  the  afternoon  would 
have  reference  to  the  question  of  slavery,  and  that  in  compliance  with  the 
resolution  adopted  at  the  forenoon  session,  the  speakers  would  be  limited  to 
ten  minules,  unless  the  time  was  extended  by  vote  of  the  Convention. 

The  resolution  on  slavery  in  the  regular  series  was  then  read,  and  the 
President  introduced  Parker  Pillsbury,  of  Concord,  N.  H. 

SPEECH   OF   PARKER  PILLSBURY. 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  :  — We  have  more  important  busi- 
ness than  to  spend  our  time  in  complaining  of  the  arrangements  for  these 
meetings ;  but  it  appears  to  me  that  we  have  been  compelled  to  listen  to 
pretty  long  harangues,  coming  from  this  world  or  the  other,  and  not  always 
of  any  great  practical  interest  to  the  objects  of  this  Convention ;  and  now, 
I  do  not  know  why  it  is  that  I  am  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  limited  to  ten 
minutes,  when  I  certainly  conceive  that  the  subject  on  which  I  am  to 
speak  is  of  vastly  more  importance  than  any  other  that  can  possibly  come 
before  the  Convention,  with  the  exception  of  the  questions  pertaining  to 
woman  and  the  social  relations.  Certainly,  slavery  is  the  sin  and  crime  of 
our  country.  Disbelief  in  immortality  is  not  the  sin  nor  the  crime  of  the 
country ;  nor  am  I  aware  that  there  is  any  alarming  degree  of  unbelief  on 
this  subject  of  immortality ;  and  what  I  have  to  say  this  afternoon  must 
have  reference  to  the  affairs  of  this  world,  I  being  rather  more  conversant 
with  its  affairs  than  with  tliose  of  any  other,  and  I  do  not  choose  to  wade 
beyond  my  depth,  nor  to  soar  so  near  the  sun,  that,  like  the  old  divinity,  my 
waxen  wings  shall  be  melted  off.  I  fancy  we  have  vastly  more  important 
business  than  settling  the  condition  of  our  friends  in  the  future ;  and  there 
are  in  our  country  four  millions  o^  living  bodies  and  souls,  about  whose  con- 
dition there  can  be  no  question,  especially  in  this  audience.  The  interest  I 
feel  in  this  meeting,  and  the  pleasure  I  have  in  speaking  in  it,  comes  mainly 
from  the  fact,  that  I  fancy  it  to  be  an  assembly  of  earnest,  and,  in  some 
degree,  liberated  spirits,  not  fearing  to  enter  upon  the  discussion  of  any 
question  having  relation  to  human  happiness  and  human  progression.  I  am 
not  particularly  interested  to  know  what  you  think  or  believe  on  the  sub- 
ject of  slavery,  nor  on  the  subject  of  man's  rights  and  wrongs  and  respon- 
sibilities ;  that  you  are  earnest,  and,  in  some  degree,  awakened  souls,  is 
enough  for  my  purpose. 

Now,  then,  I  want  to  say  something  about  the  subject  which  has  been  as- 
signed me.  I  would  rather  it  should  have  been  assigned  to  some  one  else, 
and  that  I,  if  I  spoke  at  all,  might  be  permitted  to  speak  on  another  subject. 
There  is  one  subject,  on  the  prosecution  of  which,  when  the  time  comes,  I 
am  willing  to  enter,  and  lay  aside  that  to  which  I  am  now  directing  the  ener- 
gies of  my  life,  and  that  subject  is  Woman,  and  the  Social  Relations ;  and  I 
would  enter  upon  that  now,  and  leave  the  technical  cause  of  Anti-Slavery  in 
other  hands,  were  there  a  platform  on  which  I  could  stand,  or  did  I  feel 
quite  competent  to  the  construction  of  such  a  platform.  But  not  finding 
such  at  present,  and  not  feeling  competent  myself  to  construct  one  to  my 
purpose,  I  confine  myself  to  the  technical  question  of  slavery  and  its  over- 
throw.    But  I  can  conceive  that  the  cause  of  woman  may  be  presented  in 


SLAVERY.  83 

such  a  light,  and  under  such  conditions,  as  that  it,  like  the  rod  in  the  hand 
of  the  ancient  Hebrew,  should  swallow  up  all  other  questions ;  but  that 
time  has  not  come  yet ;  so  I  shall  say  what  I  have  to  say  in  this  Convention 
mainly  on  the  subject  of  slavery. 

A  resolution  has  been  introduced,  which,  to  my  mind,  is  an  excellent 
basis,  in  the  main,  on  which  to  found  two  or  three  others,  and  it  seems  to 
me  that  it  is  not  much  but  a  basis,  and  that  a  fabric  such  as  I  can  rear 
upon  it  will  be  of  far  more  importance  than  the  original  resolution  of  the 
Committee :  — 

Resolved,  That  the  two  great  pillars  of  the  slave  system  of  this  country  are  the  State 
and  the  Church  —  the  former  as  represented  by  the  two  great  political  parties,  the  Re- 
publican and  Democratic  ;  and  the  latter  by  the  Congregational,  Presbyterian,  Baptist, 
Methodist,  and  Episcopal  Churches,  and  the  American  Bible  and  Tract  Societies  —  not 
one  of  which  has  ever  yet  repudiated  the  principle  that  man  may  breed,  buy,  sell  and 
hold  his  fellow  man  in  absolutely  brute  slavery. 

Resolved,  That  voluntary  support  rendered  to  any  of  these  organizations,  whether  by 
voting  for  their  candidates  to  office  in  the  State,  or  accepting  of  their  offices,  as  the  Con- 
stitution and  Government  of  the  United  States  are  now  interpreted,  or  by  sacramental 
communion  with  slaveholders,  their  abettors,  or  any  who  will  commune  with  slave- 
holders, or  their  abettors,  is  to  take  the  side  of  the  oppressor  against  the  oppressed,  and 
to  stain  the  souls  of  all  who  do  it  with  the  sin  and  guilt  of  slavery. 

Resolved,  That  the  American  Union  was  a  crime  in  its  formation ;  and,  as  might 
have  been  expected,  has  proved  a  curse  ever  since  —  based  as  it  was  upon  the  monstrous 
doctrine  that  half  the  people  mifjht  hold  slaves,  and  that  the  other  half  should  aid  them ; 
and  not  only  aid  them,  directly  as  well  as  indirectly,  but  give  them  a  superiority  of 
power  and  prerogative  in  the  government,  in  proportion  as  they  multiply  the  number  of 
their  victims. 

Resolved,  That  the  only  terms  we  should  present  to  the  slave  States  are,  immediate 
emancipation  of  every  slave,  or  immediate  dissolution  of  the  Union ;  and  any  party  or 
church,  based  on  a  lower  principle,  or  enacting  any  policy  that  should  tolerate  slavery, 
as  at  present  existing,  for  a  single  day,  is  utterly  unworthy  the  support  of  any  lover  of 
Liberty  or  friend  of  Man. 

I  do  not  know,  Mr.  Chairman,  as  I  can  make  a  better  address  to  this 
audience  than  to  read  these  resolutions  to  them.  They  have  not  been 
hastily  drawn.  Every  portion  of  them  has  been  well  considered.  I  think 
I  should  have  no  hesitation  in  encountering  any  amount  of  opposition  to 
them  in  the  field  of  free  and  fair  discussion.  I  know  there  is  a  difference 
of  opinion  in  regard  to  some  of  the  sentiments  contained  in  them.  I  think, 
however,  that  difference  arises  more  from  an  incorrect  knowledge  of  the 
slave  system  of  our  country  and  our  own  relations  to  that  system,  than  from 
any  other  source  or  cause  whatever,  and  that  there  is  enough  of  the  spirit 
of  liberty  burning  in  the  bosoms  of  the  people  of  Vermont,  and  in  New 
England,  New  York,  and  the  Western  States,  to  sweep  that  system  out  of 
existence,  if  the  people  were  but  aware  of  their  own  relations  to  it.  But 
the  grand  difficulty  is,  there  is  yet  in  the  minds  of  the  great  mass  of  the 
American  people,  an  entire  misapprehension  as  well  upon  the  character  of 
that  system  as  upon  the  connection  subsisting  between  themselves  here  at 
the  North  and  that  system.  We  are  told  we  have  an  anti-slavery  party  — 
the  Republican  party.  I  respect  every  anti-slavery  pulsation  that  beats  in 
the  heart  of  every  individual  composing  that  party.  Nay,  more ;  I  believe 
that  what  little  of  conscience  there  is  remaining  in  the  political  parties  of  our 
country  —  and  I  am  aware  it  must  be  a  very  infinitesimal  quantity,  if  not  a 
negative  one  altogether —  has  drifted  naturally  enough  out  of  the  old  parties 
into  this,  which  is  called  by  the  respectable  name  of  the  Republican  party. 
But  then,  what  are  the  designs  and  object  of  that  party  ?  The  overthrow 
of  slavery  ?     Why,  I  stand  here  to  affirm,  that  the  Democratic  party  does 


84  THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

not,  and  the  old  Wliig  party  did  not,  in  its  palmiest  days,  take  such  pains  to 
avow  its  fidelity  to  slavery,  where  it  is,  as  does  the  Republican  party.  In 
the  last  Presidential  campaign,  the  Republican  party  doubtless  had  strong 
hopes  of  success.  I  had  no  such  hope,  and  the  result  has  shown  not  only 
that  they  did  not  succeed,  but  that  they  did  not  deserve  to  succeed.  What 
have  we  been  told  by  one  of  the  most  prominent  leaders  of  the  Republican 
party,  in  the  most  conspicuous  place  where  a  politician  can  ever  stand  — 
I  mean  in  the  Senate  chamber  of  the  United  States  ?  In  a  defence  of  the 
Republican  party  which  was  made  by  a  Senator  from  New  England,  he 
distinctly  declared  that  even  John  C.  Fremont  was  not  the  choice 
of  the  party.  Why  ?  Because  he  was  too  much  a  lover  of  liberty 
and  too  averse  to  the  extension  of  slavery  over  other  free  territory  ?  Not 
a  word  of  it.  But,  on  the  contrary,  he  told  the  country,  what  we  did  not 
know  before,  that  they  did  not  select  John  C.  Fremont  until  they  had  con- 
sulted the  slaveholders,  and  found  it  vain  to  hope  to  find  one  of  them  who 
would  accept  the  nomination.  I  want  to  ask  this  audience  if  they  were 
aware  that  the  Republicans  voted  for  Fremont  only  because  Mr.  Clayton, 
of  Delaware,  an  avowed  slaveholder,  refused '  to  accept  the  nomination  ? 
Now,  we  are  told,  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  by  one  of  the  stanch- 
est  Republican  politicians  of  the  country,  that  Mr.  Clayton  was  consulted, 
and  declined  the  nomination.  On  what  ground  ?  "  Why,"  said  he,  "  We 
dare  not  trust  you  of  the  North."  What  does  a  Southern  man  mean  when 
he  talks  about  trusting  the  North  ?  I  need  not  stop  to  explain  it.  Every 
body  understands,  that  when  Senator  Clayton  made  that  avowal,  he  meant, 
"  We  are  afraid  you  are  too  much  tinctured  with  Abolitionism  in  the  North, 
and  therefore  we  dare  not  trust  you."  And  then,  what  does  our  New  Eng- 
land Senator  say  ?  He  says,  in  consideration  of  that  fact,  we  must  bring 
our  principles  of  policy  where  the  slaveholder  will  accept  them,  —  an 
avowed  slaveholder,  a  slaveholder  determined  to  be  a  slaveholder,  —  and 
when  we  have  done  that,  then,  he  says,  we  shall  find  the  slaveholders  ready 
to  stand  on  our  platform,  and  accept  a  broad  national  code  of  principles 
that  shall  include  both  South  and  North. 

Of  whom  do  you  suppose  I  am  speaking,  Mr.  Chairman  ?  Not  of  Charles 
Sumner,  for  what  I  am  quoting  was  uttered  within  about  seven  months  from 
the  time  when  he  was  stricken  down  by  the  bludgeon  of  a  South  Carolinian 
bully,  and  laid  senseless  and  bleeding  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate  Chamber  of 
the  United  States  ;  but  stranger  yet,  Mr.  Chairman,  those  words  were 
uttered  by  the  colleague  of  Charles  Sumner,  Senator  Wilson,  of  Massa- 
chusetts, standing  in  the  yet  almost  undried  blood  of  his  colleague,  and 
uttered,  too,  principally  to  South  Carolina,  from  whence  jthe  brutal  blow  had 
come,  that  so  nearly  sent  Charles  Sumner  to  a  higher  court,  and  to  other 
scenes  than  can  be  found  in  this  lower  world. 

Now,  says  the  resolution  too  much,  when,  in  the  Senate  Chamber  of  the 
United  States,  the  representative  man  of  the  Republican  party  makes  such 
bold  and  daring  avowals  as  these?  —  and  shall  we  call  that  any  other  than  a 
slaveholding  party  ? 

Take  another  man,  perhaps  still  more  illustrious ;  —  I  mean  John  P.  Hale, 
of  New  Hampshire,  —  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency  once,  who  consented 
for  the  time  being  to  postpone  his  own  claims  and  aspirations  in  favor  of 
John  C.  Fremont,  —  and  what  did  he  tell  us  ?  In  so  many  words,  that  the 
only  party  in  the  land,  in  whose  hands  the  slave  system  of  the  South  would 
be  perfectly  safe,  was  that  same  Republican  party  ! 

I  have  neither  time  nor  strength  for  a  long  discussion  of  these  resolutions, 


SLAVERY.  85 

even  if  the  patience  of  the  audience  did  not  tire ;  therefore  it  is  that  I  have 
come  directly  to  the  subject,  and  taken  these  two  as  the  most  ilUistrious  names 
furnished  by  the  Republican  party,  in  order  to  illustrate  its  position  and 
character.  And  if  there  be  any  Republican  present  who  dissents  from  the 
position  I  have  taken,  or  from  the  statements  I  have  made,  I  have  simply 
to  say  this,  that  I  have  Mr.  Wilson's  speech  in  my  pocket,  and  can  read  the 
declarations ;  and,  what  is  more,  a  page  or  two  "  of  the  same  sort,"  like  the 
man's  razor  strops,  only  a  little  more  so.  [Laughter.]  I  Avill  not  dwell 
any  longer  on  that  point. 

There  is  another  pillar  contemplated  in  the  resolutions,  which  I  conceive 
more  important  by  far  than  the  Republican  party ;  for,  bad  as  are  the  poli- 
tics of  the  country,  I  do  not  think  they  are  quite  so  corrupt  as  the  religion 
of  the  country.  We  have  just  passed  through  an  overwhelming  revival  of 
that  rehgion  ;  and  in  what  did  it  culminate  ?  The  best  and  largest  repre- 
sentative of  it,  is  the  American  Tract  Society.  I  speak  of  it  because  it 
includes  among  its  supporters  and  its  office-holders  members  of  the 
various  evangelical  denominations  in  the  country.  And  now,  what  have 
we  just  seen  ?  That  same  American  Tract  Society  coming  together  in  the 
city  of  New  York  to  hold  its  recent  anniversary.  It  began  by  thanking 
God  for  the  wonderful  manifestation  of  his  presence  in  the  recent  revival  of 
religion  over  the  country  ;  it  sung  a  doxology  in  long  metre  to  "  God  the 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,"  for  this  signal  and  striking  manifestation  of 
Divine  power ;  and  then  it  proceeded,  by  a  majority  of  ten  to  one,  to  de- 
clare its  determination,  not  only  not  to  publish  a  single  word  of  rebuke 
against  slavery,  but  that  it  would  not  say  it  would  not  publish  tracts  in  favor 
and  in  support  of  the  system !  There  is  the  culmination  of  this  revival ! 
The  American  Tract  Society,  its  best  exponent,  by  a  majority  of  ten  to  one, 
reaffirming  all  its  former  policy,  and  declaring,  indeed,  that  it  might  possibly 
do  worse  !  —  that  is,  begin  to  publish  tracts  in  support  of  slavery  !  Why 
should  it  not?  Dr.  Adams,  of  Boston,  prominent  on  the  Publishing  Com- 
mittee, has  himself  published  a  book  in  which  he  declares  that  when  he 
was  travelling  in  the  South,  and  saw  the  condition  of  the  slaves,  and 
especially  their  religious  advantages,  he  could  not  but  exclaim,  "  Would 
that  all  Africa  were  here !  "  And  then  he  goes  on  to  say,  in  illustration, 
that  if  whole  villages  and  tribes  of  native  Africans  could  be  brought  to  this 
country,  and  placed  under  the  influences  of  the  gospel,  as  enjoyed  by  our 
slaves,  Ethiopia  would  sooner  stretch  out  her  hands  to  God  than  the  most 
sanguine  believers  in  prophesy  now  dare  to  expect !  It  was  in  keeping 
with  that  declaration  of  this  illustrious  member  of  the  Publishing  Commit- 
tee, that  the  society  should  refuse  to  tie  up  its  hands  against  publishing 
tracts  in  support  of  slavery.  Why,  according  to  Dr.  Adams,  the  Atlantic 
telegraph  is  to  be  of  no  importance,  unless  it  can  be  made  broad  enough  to 
waft  all  Africa  to  this  country,  and  place  them  under  the  lash  and  the  Bible 
at  the  same  time.  But  I  will  not  stop  to  speak  of  the  American  Tract 
Society  any  longer. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  passed  through  a  process  which  it 
calls  division,  and  they  have  made  their  Northern  members  believe  they 
have  now  separated  themselves  from  all  participation  in  the  crime  and  guilt 
of  slavery  ;  and  all  over  New  England,  I  have  encountered  Methodist  min- 
isters who  face  me  down  in  my  meetings,  with  the  declaration  that  there  is 
not  a  slaveholder  nor  a  slave  in  the  Northern  Conferences.  {_A  voice—' 
"  They  do  it  wilfully."]  Now,  it  seems  to  me,  that,  as  somebody  says, 
it  takes  uncommon  sinners  to  commit  uncommon  sins,  so  it  takes  uncommon 


86  THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

liars  to  tell  uncommon  lies.  I  do  not  know  of  any  other  body  of  men  but 
ministers,  who  would  risk  their  reputation  in  a  falsehood  to  compare  with 
that.  [Applause.]  What  have  we  seen  ?  Last  year,  the  Methodist  Gen- 
eral Conference  held  its  session  at  Indianapolis,  Indiana.  It  commenced  its 
sessions  on  the  first  day  of  May,  and  ended  them  the  first  day  of  June.  A 
large  part  of  the  time  was  spent  in  the  discussion  of  slavery.  The  Bishops 
themselves  published,  over  their  own  sign-manual,  a  full  denial  of  that  as- 
sertion to  which  I  have  referred,  and  thus  gave  the  lie  to  half  the  Methodist 
ministers  I  have  known  in  all  New  England  within  the  last  few  years  ;  for 
they  say,  in  their  public  declaration  to  the  General  Conference,  that  they 
have  both  slaveholders  and  slaves  in  a  large  number  of  the  Conferences  of 
w^hich  the  General  Conference  is  composed ;  and  I  find,  on  looking  over 
their  Book  of  Discipline,  that  there  are  five  Conferences,  almost  the  whole 
of  whose  territory  is  in  the  slaveholding  states,  and,  moreover,  that  several 
whole  slaveholding  states  are  within  the  borders  of  the  Northern  Conference ; 
and,  more  than  that,  they  declare  distinctly,  that  they  are  in  union  with 
slaveholders ;  and  when  a  proposition  was  made  in  that  body  to  amend  the 
Discipline  by  striking  out  certain  passages,  or  by  such  changes  as  should 
separate  the  denomination  from  all  connection  with  the  system  in  the  future, 
that  proposition  was  by  a  large  majority  voted  down ;  and  when  it  was  pro- 
posed to  introduce  an  amendment  to  the  Discipline,  declaring,  almost  in  the 
words  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the  right  of  all  men  to  liberty 
and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  that,  too,  was  voted  down. 

The  other  day,  the  Southern  General  Conference  met  down  in  Alabama, 
and  mark  the  difference  !  That  body  went  deliberately  to  work  and  struck 
out  of  the  Book  of  Discipline  every  thing  relating  to  slavery,  and  only  eight 
members  of  the  whole  Southern  Conference  were  found  who  dared  avow  a 
wish  to  retain  it.  There,  I  think,  is  a  fair  exposition  of  the  position  of  the 
Methodist  Church  as  regards  the  question  of  slavery. 

I  do  not  deny  that  there  are  many  anti-slavery  men,  and  women,  too,  — 
more  women  than  men,  —  in  the  Methodist  Church  ;  but  what  is  its  govern- 
ing influence  ?  In  the  first  place,  it  is  the  clergy  ;  in  the  second  place,  it  is 
the  pro-slavery  portion  of  the  clergy,  and  not  the  anti-slavery  portion.  In 
one  of  the  pastoral  letters  of  the  Baltimore  Conference,  —  a  large  part  of 
whose  territory  is  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  —  it  distinctly  declares  to 
the  members  and  officers  of  that  Conference,  clerical  and  others,  "  We  are 
not,  do  not  design  to  be,  and  never  have  been,  abolitionists,"  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, that  they  never  ordain  a  candidate  for  the  ministry  without  asking 
him,  on  the  one  hand,  "  Are  you  a  slaveholder  ?  "  If  he  says  "  Yes,"  they 
reject  him  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  they  ask  him  if  he  is  an  Abolitionist, 
and  if  he  answers  "  Yes,"  they  also  reject  him.  Now,  the  question  is  one  of 
such  particular  construction,  and  so  peculiar  in  its  nature,  that  tiiere  can  be 
no  misapprehending  what  is  meant  by  that  equivocal  course.  So,  I  say, 
bring  the  Methodist  Church  up  to  its  declarations,  resolutions,  reports,  and 
other  published  matter,  and  it  stands  convicted,  on  the  one  hand,  of  close  ad- 
herence to  the  slave  system,  and  on  the  other,  of  the  most  daring  and  defiant 
lies  and  hypocrisy. 

I  will  not  stop,  Mr.  Chairman,  to  speak  of  the  other  denominations  in  par- 
ticular,—  not  that  the  Methodists  are  worse  than  they,  or  they  less  guilty 
than  the  Methodists.  I  wish  to  refer  to  the  revival  of  religion  through 
which  we  have  just  passed.  Let  me  treat  this  audience  to  a  single  page  of 
American  ecclesiastical  history.  It  is  not  yet  taught  in  our  theological  sem- 
inaries, but  when  you  appoint  me  a  professor  in  one,  I  intend  it  shall  be. 


SLAVERY.  87 

From  1830  to  1840,  we  had  almost  one  continued  series  of  revivals  of  re- 
ligion—  did  we  not?  Have  you  forgotten  the  events  of  1830  and  1831, 
which  were  counted  years  especially  of  the  right  hand  of  the  Most   High  ? 

—  when  the  number  of  church  communicants  doubled,  and  the  number  of 
ministers  and  candidates  for  the  ministry  increased  in  the  same  proportion 

—  when  the  wilderness  of  the  West  budded  and  blossomed  like  the  rose,  as 
they  told, us,  and  churches  sprang  up  where  even  log-cabins  or  wigwams  had 
not  stood  before  ;  when,  as  the  people  .of  Athens  said,  at  one  time,  "  It  is 
easier  to  find  a  God  in  our  city  than  a  man,"  you  could  say  of  the  Western 
forests,  "  It  is  easier  to  find  a  house  for  God  than  a  house  for  man,"  and 
much  better  ones  when  you  did  find  them ;  and  all  over  the  land,  the  atmos- 
phere was  redolent  with  the  praises  of  the  new  converts,  and  your  very 
mountains  seemed  to  be  bathed  in  millennial  glory.  But  do  you  remember 
that  it  was  just  at  that  time  that  in  Mexico,  a  neighboring  Republic,  with  a 
Roman  Catholic  Church  and  a  Roman  Catholic  faith,  they  were  abolishing 
the  slave  system,  and  smiting  down  its  altars,  as  it  was  hoped,  forever? 
They  had  no  revival ;  they  had  nothing  to  boast  of  in  that  regard ;  but, 
prompted  by  humanity,  in  obedience  to  the  genius  of  the  nineteentii  century, 
they  laid  their  hands  upon  the  Dagon  of  Slavery,  and  slew  him  before  all 
heaven  and  the  sun.  We,  meantime,  were  reviving  religion,  and  revived 
it  until  we  added  half  a  million  new  converts  to  the  church,  and  half  a  mil- 
lion weeping  victims  to  the  already  swollen  ranks  of  the  slaves,  and  in  all 
those  years  of  revival,  not  one  solitary  slave  received  his  freedom  as  the 
result.  They  became,  in  millions,  so  we  are  told,  the  freemen  of  the 
Most  High.  But  what  was  the  effect  on  the  plantation  ?  Many  a 
bankrupt  planter  found  his  property  doubled  in  value,  because  a  con- 
verted slave  is  worth  fifty  per  cent,  more  than  one  in  the  "  gall  of 
bitterness."  [Laughter.]  All  over  the  South,  wherever  slaves  are  sold, 
the  highest  recommendation  that  can  be  given  them  is  to  say  that  they  are 
pious  slaves.  God  in  the  slave  sells  fifty  per  cent,  higher  than  the  slave 
"  without  God  and  without  hope  in  the  world."  I  heard  a  missionary  say 
one  day,  that  amons^  the  Burmese,  where  he  labored,  they  made  gods,  and 
sold  them  at  the  stores  and  shops.  I  have  here  in  my  pocket  an  advertisement 
I  cut  from  a  Brazilian  paper,  in  which  an  enterprising  merchant  (I  fancy 
he  may  be  a  Yankee  from  Vermont)  advertises,  with  special  reference  to 
the  Christmas  holidays,  Holy  Ghosts  of  silver,  a  dollar  each ;  Holy  Ghosts 
plated,  for  fifty  cents  each ;  and  a  large  variety  of  tin  Holy  Ghosts  for  sev- 
enty-five cenis  a  hundred.  [Great  merriment.]  Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  that 
is  worthy  of  a  Vermonter,  is  it  not  ?  I  do  not  know  who  could  do  it  better, 
but  we  of  the  Granite  State  might  do  it  as  well.  What  a  revelation  have 
we  there !  But  I  remember  well  how  this  missionary  to  whom  I  refer —  it 
was  the  Rev.  Mr.  Sutton,  of  the  Orissa  mission,  whose  name  is  familiar  to 
some  of  you  no  doubt  —  made  his  audience  weep  when  he  told  them  the 
people  in  that  heathen  land  could  sell  their  gods  in  the  market — so  degraded 
and  so  debased  were  they.  But,  Mr.  Chairman,  it  takes  us,  in  the  midst  of 
a  revival,  and  after  a  revival,  to  sell  the  Almighty  God,  in  the  persons  of  his 
children,  fifty  per  cent,  higher  than  before  the  revival !  It  takes  us  to  do 
that  —  not  the  Catholics  in  Brazil,  not  the  Burmese  nor  the  Hindoos,  but 
the  baptized  communicants  in  the  Christian  faith. 

I  was  going  to  give  you  a  page  of  history,  and  I  will  detain  you  but  a 
moment  longer.  This  is  what  I  was  coming  at.  I  said  that  in  that  ten 
years,  we  had  a  continued  revival,  but  no  emancipation  of  slaves ;  on  the 
contrary,  if  you  look  at  the  census,  you  will  see  that  when  it  began,  we  had 


88  THE    RDTLAND    CONVENTION. 

two  millions  of  slaves,  and  when  it  ended,  two  millions  and  a  half.  But 
that  was  not  all  the  story.  Do  you  remember  the  history  of  the  next  year  ? 
Do  you  remember  the  seizure  of  Texas  ?  Do  you  remember  the  objects 
for  which  it  was  seized  ?  —  in  order  that  the  reeking  altars  of  Moloch  might 
be  rebuilded  by  Protestant  hands,  that  had  been  demolished  by  Roman 
Catholic  faith  and  love.  Do  you  remember  the  bloody  butchery  of  seventy- 
five  thousand  Mexicans,  by  these  same  Protestant  hands?  You- dignify  it 
by  the  name  of  war,  and  call  it,  the  Mexican  war ;  it  was  a  bloody  massacre 
of  seventy-five  thousand  human  beings,  whose  crime  was  that  they  had  laid 
their  sacrilegious  hands  on  the  bloody  and  blasphemous  altar  of  Slavery. 
That  is  history.  We  entered  upon  the  work  with  many  prayers,  and  after 
we  had  murdered  seventy-five  thousand  Mexicans,  the  Church  got  down  on 
her  hypocritical  knees  before  High  Heaven,  and  thanked  God  that  "  Mexico 
is  now  open  to  the  Gospel " !     [Applause.] 

This  is  no  caricature  ;  it  is  plain,  unvarnished  history.  And  you  mur- 
dered those  seventy-five  thousand  human  beings  ;  you  seized  their  lands, 
you  have  builded  up  those  bloody  altars,  and  now  you  thank  God  for  the 
great  extent  of  your  Empire.  That  is  the  history  of  the  revival  and  its  re- 
sults. But  it  did  not  stop  there.  Onward  still  the  career  of  blood  must 
sweep,  until,  in  1850,  you  enacted  the  Fugitive  Slave  Bill,  that  entirely  an- 
nihilates the  principles  of  Christianity,  and  made  that  a  crime  which  God 
commands,  and  that  a  virtue  which  God  and  all  nature  forbid. 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  said  when  I  began,  that  this  was  the  most  important 
subject  that  could  come  before  this  Convention.  What  is  the  sin  of  this 
nation  ?  It  is  not  unbelief  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul ;  it  is  not  skepti- 
cism in  regard  to  the  abstract  doctrine  of  the  love  of  God  for  his  children 
here  and  hereafter.  I  rejoice  in  the  discussion  of  that  subject.  I  hope  the 
day  is  just  upon  us  that  shall  herald  over  the  two  continents  the  glad  tidings 
that  they  are  now  bound  together  by  nerves  that  shall  vibrate  through 
the  ocean,  and  throb  over  the  continents,  running  our  errands  with  ten 
times  the  speed  of  lightning.  I  would  add  to  this,  if  I  might,  a  spiritual 
telegraph,  that  should  extend  through  the  whole  spiritual  universe.  But, 
I  say  this,  neither  one  nor  the  other  is  of  any  moment  to  the  poor  slave 
mother,  Avho  to-day  sees  her  babes  sold  at  auction  with  the  beasts  of  the 
stall ;  and  I  have  said,  and  I  affirm  it  here,  that  those  who  are  the  most  en- 
gaged in  gazing  away  into  the  clouds  for  other  worlds  and  future  existences 
are  not  apt  to  be  much  troubled  with  the  sorrows  of  this.  Therefore  it  is 
that  I  am  out  of  all  patience  sometimes,  when  I  see,  as  here  last  evening, 
hour  after  hour  used  up  and  passed  into  the  great  eternities,  bearing  no 
better  record  than  the  utterances  of  lisping  girls,  whose  good  inten- 
tions no  man  questions,  but  whose  capacity  for  public  teaching,  in  a  crisis 
like  this,  is  certainly  also  not  very  questionable.  I  do  not  speak  thus  be- 
cause I  would  cast  reproach  upon  the  subject  of  Spiritualism.  I  am  glad  to 
-meet  its  disciples  here.  Among  my  personal  ft'iends  are  numbered  some 
of  its  most  distinguished  advocates.  I  trust  they,  and  I,  and  you,  sir,  will 
-go  onward  and  upward  together,  not  only  through  the  realms  of  space,  but 
the  epochs  of  duration,  until  we  shall  have  vastly  transcended  the  present 
position  of  the  highest  archangels,  who  tune  their  harps  before  the  Eternal 
Throne.  But  I  will  not  become  so  enraptured  with  anticipations  of  that 
kind,  as  to  allow  my  ears  to  be  .stopped  or  my  heart  hardened  against  the 
cries  and  wailings  of  four  millions  of  slaves.  Let  us  go  after  them,  Mr. 
Chairman,  and  give  them,  too,  these  bright  and  glorious  hopes,  and  lift  them 
up  to  what  joy  and  light  this  world  and  this  existence  affords ;  and  after  we 


SLAVERY.  89 

have  done  that,  we  will  tell  them,  and  the  rest  of  the  world,  that  in  this  age 
of  discovery,  we  have  penetrated  other  spheres,  and  taken  the  census  of  other 
planets  and  other  systems.  But  until  that  time,  let  us  not  be  so  concerned 
with  the  things  of  the  other  world  as  to  leave  these  poor  bondmen  in  aP 
their  woes.  Then,  as  our  friend  Mrs.  Rose  told  us  yesterday,  here  is  not 
only  the  slave  to  be  emancipated,  but  here  is  woman  to  be  disenthralled, 
here  is  labor  to  be  elevated,  ignorance  to  be  instructed,  and  humanity  to  be 
restored  to  the  felicities  of  this  world,  as  the  best  preparation  for  the  higher 
and  holier  joys  of  that  which  is  to  come.     [Loud  applause.] 

The  ITarmonial  Club  sang  "  The  Good  Time  Coming,"  after  which  the 
Convention  was  addressed  by  Wm.  Goodell,  of  New  York  city. 

SPEECH   OF   WILLIAM   GOODELL. 

Mr.  President :  —  The  subject  of  slavery  has  been  before  this  nation  for 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  it  is  now  high  time  that  something 
effectual  was  done,  or,  at  least,  begun  to  be  done,  to  bring  this  great  ques- 
tion to  its  final  decision.  I  have  drawn  up  a  few  resolutions,  which  have 
been  before  your  Committee,  expressing  the  views  which  I  wish  to  intro- 
duce to  your  attention.  It  will  be  perceived  that  they  cover  the  ground,  in 
part,  occupied  by  the  resolutions  previously  read,  and  yet  they  come  to  a 
point  somewhat  different  in  the  result :  — 

Besolved,  That  the  holding  of  human  beings  in  cliattel  slavery  is  a  sin  against  God, 
an  outrage  upon  man,  and  a  crime  against  society.  It  should  therefore  be  rebuked  by 
religious  teachers,  condemned  by  ecclesiastical  bodies,  opposed  by  Missionary,  Tract, 
and  Bible  Societies,  excluded  from  religious  fellowship,  and  church  membership.  It 
should  be  prohi-bited  and  suppressed  by  civil  governments,  under  the  severest  penal  sanc- 
tions. To  these  ends  it  should  be  perseveringly  preached  against,  lectured  against,  le- 
gislated against,  until  driven  into  non-existence  by  the  execration  of  mankind. 

Resolved,  That  since  the  crime  is  a  national  crime,  tolerated  by  the  nation,  protected 
by  the  nation,  fostered  by  the  nation  :  since  it  poisons  the  nation,  debases  the  nation,  and 
is  in  process  of  enslaving  the  nation  —  therefore  the  nation  (involved  in  its  guilt,  bur- 
thened  with  its  curse,  and  endangered  by  its  existence)  is  bound  by  the  strongest  consid- 
erations of  humanity,  justice,  religion,  liberty,  patriotism,  moral  principle,  and  political 
necessity,  to  suppress  all  the  slavery  in  the  nation,  and  that  this  duty  and  necessity  are 
"  before  and  higher  than  all  constitutional  sanctions." 

Besolved,  That  the  nation,  by  its  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  by  the  declared 
objects  of  its  Constitution,  as  set  forth  in  its  preamble,  has  solemnly  pledged  itself  ("ap- 

f)ealing  to  the  Supreme  Judge  of  the  world  for  the  rectitude  of  its  intentions  ")  to  estab- 
ish  a  government  "  for  the  security  "  of  the  "  equal  and  inalienable  rights  of  all  men 
to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness"  —  a  government  to  ''establish  justice, 
and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  " ;  that  the  obligations  thus  voluntarily  recognized 
have  never  been  and  never  can  be  annulled  ;  nor  can  they  be  honored  by  any  measure 
short  of  a  national  abolition  of  American  slavery. 

Besolved,  That  the  Constitution  forbids  slavery  in  the  States,  by  forbidding  bills  of 
attainder,  ex  ])ost  facto  laws,  and  laws  impairing  the  obligations  of  contracts  ;  that  it 
provides  for  and  requires  national  abolition,  by  securing  the  habeas  corpus,  the  right  to 
"life,  liberty  and  property,"  except  as  "  deprived"  of  them  "by  due  process  of  law;" 
the  rights  of  religious  liberty,  and  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press,"  exemption  from 
"unreasonable  searches  and  seizures"  (all  which  define  a  llepublican  government),  and, 
finally,  by  recjuiring  that  "  the  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every  State  in  this  tlnion 
a  Republican  form  of  government." 

These  are  the  remedies  that  have  been  proposed  for  slavery.  Our 
fathers  strangely  imagined  that  if  they  could  but  prohibit  the  African  slave 
trade,  the  speedy  abolition  of  slavery  would  follow  as  a  matter  of  course. 
Their  mistake  is  now  apparent  to  us  all.  So  far  from  abolishing  slavery  by 
the  prohibition  of  the  African  slave  trade,  the  result  to-day  is,  that  slavery 


90  THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

has  increased;  and  not  only  has  slavery  increased,  but  the  slave  traide  itself 
has  been  but  nominally,  not  really,  abolished.  This  trade,  so  far  from  being 
abolished  by  the  prohibitions  of  this  country  and  of  Great  Britain,  is  carried 
on  to  a  greater  extent  now  than  it  was  when  Clarkson,  and  Wilberforce,  and 
Granville  Sharpe  commenced  their  agitation  on  the  subject.  The  slave 
trade  to-day  is  carried  on  to  a  greater  extent  than  it  was  in  1808,  when,  by 
the  joint  action  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  of  America,  it  was 
prohibited  by  law.  In  1845,  a  very  elaborate  examination  of  this  whole 
subject  was  entered  into  by  the  British  Houses  of  Parliament,  and  the  facts 
I  have  stated  were  then  ascertained  and  authenticated.  You  understand 
perfectly  well  that  all  the  tendencies  of  our  government,  at  the  present 
time,  are  to  a  reopening  of  the  African  slave  trade,  by  the  repeal  of  the 
prohibition  of  1808,  and  you  understand,  too,  that  there  are  indications  that 
the  British  Government  itself  is  beginning  to  waver,  in  its  work  of  attempt- 
ing to  abolish  the  slave  trade  while  slavery  remains.  Up  to  1845,  it  was 
proclaimed  that  not  only  had  nothing  been  done  to  suppress  the  traffic,  but 
that  it  had  steadily  increased  up  to  that  time.  Vain,  then,  are  our  expecta- 
tions of  getting  rid  of  slavery  by  abolishing  the  slave  trade. 

But  there  was  another  project  proposed,  which,  as  some  of  us  remember, 
five-and-twenty  years  ago,  was  confidently  looked  upon  as  the  great  means 
of  getting  rid  of  slavery,  and  that  was,  forsooth,  by  the  process  of  African 
colonization.  I  need  not  enter  into  the  history  of  that  delusion.  You  all 
understand  that  that  process  is  as  nothing,  but  a  drop  in  the  bucket,  com- 
pared to  the  annual  increase. 

In  our  own  times,  and  within  the  last  ten  years,  there  has  been  another 
experiment,  and  what  is  that  ?  The  experiment  of  limiting  slavery,  —  of 
making  slavery  local,  and  liberty  national ;  the  experiment  of  conceding  the 
constitutional  right  of  slavery  in  the  original  slave  States,  but  denying  its 
right  to  extend  itself  into  new  States  or  territories.  This  experiment  has 
been  going  on  since  the  year  1848,  when  the  Liberty  party  —  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  very  few,  who  have  adhered  to  the  original  organization,  upon 
the  principle  of  abolishing  slavery  —  was  merged  in  the  Free-Soil  movement. 
The  great  mass  of  the  friends  of  liberty,  in  1848,  gave  up  direct  action  for 
the  abolition  of  slavery,  so  far  as  political  action  was  concerned,  for  what 
was  supposed  to  be,  by  the  wise  and  great  men  of  the  nation,  a  wiser 
and  more  prudent  policy.  It  was  said  we  must  first  limit  slavery,  and  then, 
perhaps,  some  of  them  said  —  some  of  them  avowed  no  such  intention  —  it 
will  be  time  enough  to  take  up  the  work  of  abolishing  slavery ;  and  this 
work  has  been  in  progress  ever  since. 

But  in  regard  to  this  experiment,  I  should  go  further  back  still.  This  ef- 
fort was  commenced  before  the  foundation  of  our  present  government,  or 
about  the  same  time.  In  1787,  the  famous  ordinance  was  passed,  excluding 
slavery  from  the  Northwest  Territory,  which  includes  the  present  North- 
western States.  It  is  to  this  that  we  owe  the  existence  of  freedom  in  Ohio 
and  the  States  west  and  northwest  of  it,  and  that  has  been  the  sum  total  of 
its  achievements.  P'rom  that  time  to  the  present,  the  policy  of  limitation  has 
been  more  or  less  prominent.  A  number  of  statesmen  in  the  old  Demo- 
cratic, National  Republican,  and  Whig  parties  were  in  favor  of  such  a  move- 
ment, and  so  expressed  themselves,  in  various  ways,  and  at  the  time  of  the 
Wilmot  proviso,  you  know  there  was  the  beginning  of  what  might  be  called 
a  Northern  movement  for  the  non-extension  of  slavery.  You  understand 
the  fate  of  every  one  of  these  enterprises  ;  every  one  has  proved  a  failure. 
There  was  a  time  when  every  party  in  the  North  was  in  favor  of  that  plan. 


SLAVERY.  91 

There  was  a  time  when  the  House  of  Representatives  adopted  the  Wilmot 
Proviso,  but  it  failed  in  the  Senate;  and  finally,  by  the  joint  action  of  both 
Houses,  the  whole  thing  was  thrown  overboard.  Then  came  the  Free-Soil 
party ;  then  came  the  Free  Democracy  ;  then  came  the  Republican  party. 
The  motto  was,  "  No  more  Slave  States."  They  adopted  the  principle,  and 
laid  it  down  as  the  platform  of  their  Republican  party,  that  slavery  should  not 
be  admitted  into  a  new  State  —  that  no  new  slave  State  should  be  admitted 
into  the  Union.  That  was  the  flag  of  the  old  Free-Soil  party.  That  went 
on  for  four  years  as  the  platform,  and  four  years  more,  under  the  new  name 
of  "National  Democracy,"  something  like  the  same  thing  was  advocated. 
But  when  the  Republican  party  was  organized,  in  1856,  it  was  found  expe- 
dient, very  quietly  and  stealthily,  to  drop  that  portion  of  the  platform,  and 
the  doctrine  of  "  No  more  Slave  States  "  was  given  up  at  the  Pittsburg  and 
Philadelphia  Conventions,  and  the  rally  was  made  simply  upon  the  territo- 
ries, and  more  especially  upon  the  territory  of  Kansas.  "  Free  Kansas  "  was 
then  the  motto,  in  opposition  to  the  Nebraska  Bill,  by  which  the  Missouri 
Restriction  had  been  repealed.  The  confident  anticipation  then  was  that  a 
rally  would  be  made  which  would  carry  a  majority  of  the  people  of  the 
States  in  favor  of  that  measure ;  but  the  result  is  before  you. 

I  need  not  further  pursue  this  matter.  The  point  to  which  I  ask  your  at- 
tention is  this :  that  all  efforts  to  prevent  the  extension  of  slavery,  while 
permitting  it  to  exist  in  any  part  of  the  country,  have  proved  failures.  I 
know  it  may  be  said  that  the  fate  of  Kansas  is  yet  undecided ;  but  it  is  de- 
cided, so  far  as  national  action  is  concerned,  —  so  far  as  restriction  is 
concerned;  for  the  House  of  Representatives  adopted  English's  Bill,  which 
was  a  formal  annunciation  of  the  doctrine  of  no  federal  restriction  upon 
the  subject,  and  simply  referred  the  question  back  again  for  the  action  of 
the  territory.  So  we  may  say  that  experiment  has  been  tried,  and  found 
a  failure.  There  is  no  more  reason  for  us  to  expect  a  restriction  of  slavery, 
while  the  institution  continues,  than  the  abolition  of  the  African  slave  trade 
while  slavery  continues.  There  is  no  more  reason  to  expect  that  the  enter- 
prise of  limiting  or  restricting  slavery  by  federal  action  —  by  the  action  of  any 
political  party,  which  shall  make  that  its  object  —  will  be  successful,  than 
there  is  of  removing  it  by  the  action  of  the  Colonization  Society.  The  one 
experiment  is  as  demonstrably  and  totally  a  failure  as  the  other. 

Where  are  we,  then?  We  are  brought  to  this  specific  point,  exactly:  If 
slavery  continues,  its  extension  must  continue ;  if  slavery  continues,  the  Af- 
rican slave  trade  is  to  be  revived ;  and  in  view  of  the  decision  in  the  case  of 
Dred  Scott  —  in  view  of  the  action  of  the  State  of  Virginia,  which  is  now  in 
litigation  with  the  State  of  New  York  on  this  very  subject  —  in  view  of  the 
declaration  of  President  Buchanan  himself,  in  regard  to  the  operation  of  the 
Constitution  in  carrying  slavery  into  the  territories  —  in  view  of  the  principle 
laid  down  by  Judge  Taney  in  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  and  in  the  declara- 
tions of  Southern  journals,  I  find  it  the  openly  avowed  principle  of  the 
present  Administration,  to  carry  slavery,  by  the  force  of  the  Federal  arm,  by 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  as  they  construe  it,  into  every  State 
of  this  Union.  I  suppose,  up  here  in  Vermont,  you  feel  very  little  alarm 
upon  this  subject ;  but  I  beseech  you  to  reflect  again.  It  is  easy  to  say  that 
slavery  can  never  come  into  this  State,  but  it  is  easier  to  say  it,  than  to  pre- 
vent that  result.  Allow  the  principle  that  slavery  can  exist,  and  what  do 
you  have?  The  argument  is  simply  this,  and  it  cannot  be  answered,  let 
me  say :  if  slavery  exists  in  the  States  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  —  and  that  is  admitted  by  almost  everybody,  admitted  over  and  over 


92  THE   BUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

again  by  the  Republican  party,  —  then  it  exists,  by  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  in  Kansas,  If  it  exists  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  in  Kentucky,  then  it  exists  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
in  Indiana,  and  so  on  through  every  State  of  this  Union.  And  that  is  the 
doctrine  of  our  Supreme  Court,  and  of  President  Buchanan. 

Now,  what  I  have  to  say  is,  that  there  is  one  way,  and  but  one  way,  by 
which  this  result  can  be  averted,  and  the  tide  of  slavery  rolled  back.  What 
is  that  ?  Simply  to  deny  that  the  Constitution  under  which  we  live  tolerates 
slavery.  Once  admit  that  it  tolerates,  and  you  admit  that  it  protects 
slavery.  Admit  that  it  protects  and  tolerates  it  in  one  State,  and  of  course 
it  protects  and  tolerates  it  in  every  other  State.  If  there  must  be  no  na- 
tional abolition  of  slavery  because  it  would  be  an  infringement  upon  State 
sovereignty  and  State  rights,  then  the  same  doctrine  applies  to  the  slave 
trade.  If  the  State  of  Georgia  has  the  right  to  hold  slaves ;  if  slaves  are 
property  there ;  if  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  recognizes  that  prop- 
erty there,  then  of  course  it  recognizes  the  right  of  the  people  of  Georgia  to 
introduce  slaves  from  other  States;  and  upon  the  same  principle  by  which 
President  Buchanan  and  Judge  Taney,  and  the  men  of  the  entire  South, 
assert  that  the  Federal  Constitution  carries  slavery  into  Kansas,  it  carries 
slavery  into  every  State  of  the  Union.  And  when  the  laws  that  prohibit 
the  introduction  of  slaves  from  Africa  are  repealed  —  as  is  likely  to  be  the 
case  in  a  short  time,  —  and  you  have  cargoes  brought  into  New  York  and 
Boston,  and  sold  there,  and  you  have  to  protect  such  sales  and  protect  the 
holding  of  those  slaves  by  the  arm  of  the  Federal  Government,  sustaining 
the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  you  will  understand  this  matter  better 
than  you  now  do.  There  is  no  help  for  that.  All  that  is  before  us ;  it  is 
coming  upon  us ;  indeed,  it  is  already  upon  us,  could  we  but  open  our  eyes 
to  see  it. 

There  is  but  one  remedy.  And  what  is  that  ?  It  is  such  an  interpreta- 
tion and  application  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  as  shall  deny 
the  legality  and  constitutionality  of  slavery  in  every  State  of  this  Union  ; 
such  an  application  of  it  as  shall  demand  of  the  Federal  Government  that 
it  abolish  slavery  in  every  State  of  this  Union.  There  is  no  other  possible 
remedy  for  it,  as  a  nation.  There  may,  perhaps,  be  a  remedy  for  it  in  this 
State  and  that  State,  but  there  can  be  no  remedy  as  a  nation.  If  this 
nation  is  to  remain  a  nation,  there  is  but  one  remedy,  and  can  be  but  one ; 
and  that  is,  such  national  action  as  shall  abolish  slavery. 

I  am  aware  that  to  many  this  may  seem  a  new  doctrine,  and  yet  it  is  not. 
This  doctrine  has  been  proclaimed  from  the  beginning,  but  the  great  tide  of 
public  sentiment  has  rolled  in  a  different  direction.  The  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  has  been  claimed  as  the  shield  and  protector  of  slavery ; 
but  it  is  not  so.  "  It  is  not  in  the  bond."  There  is  nothing  of  the  kind 
there.  What  is  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  ?  Its  powers,  objects, 
and  aims  are  all  concentrated  in  its  first  paragraph,  ordinarily  denominated 
"  The  Preamble  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,"  but  which  in  re- 
ality is  not  only  a  portion  of  the  Constitution,  but  is  its  all-commanding  por- 
tion ;  for  it  is  an  established  principle  of  common  law,  it  is  a  well-established 
principle  in  the  explanation  of  the  meaning  of  any  statute,  that  its  preamble, 
its  title,  if  you  please,  wliatever  the  declaration  itself  be,  shall  control  the 
interpretation  of  the  instrument ;  and  so  it  is  in  all  other  contracts  known 
among  men,  —  wherever  you  can  find  clearly  expressed  the  design,  the 
object  of  the  instrument,  there  you  have  the  clue  by  which  to  unravel  all 
the  intricacies  and  disputed  points  which  may  arise  in  regard  to  the  expla- 


SLAVERY.  98 

nation  and  application  of  that  instrument.  This  is  a  principle  laid  down 
by  the  great  writers  on  the  common  law. 

Take  our  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  what  do  you  find  there  ? 
You  find,  "  We,  the  people  of  the  United  States  "  —  mark  the  language  !  — 
"  We,  the  people  of  the  United  States  "  —  not,  *'  We,  the  people  of  the 
States."  And  mark  the  language  still  further:  "We,  the  people,"  not, 
"We,  the  white  people."  There  is  nothing  of  that  there  —  neither  the 
words  nor  the  idea.  It  is  the  Constitution,  declared  to  be,  of  the  people  of 
the  United  States ;  and,  as  a  matter  of  historical  fact,  Judge  Taney  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding,  colored  people  did  participate  in  the  legislation 
of  the  States  at  that  time  —  in  all  of  them  but  two.  Southern  as  well  as 
Northern.  Colored  people  did  participate  in  the  adoption  of  the  Constitu- 
tion itself,  in  a  number  of  the  States.  As  a  matter  of  historical  fact,  and 
as  the  document  itself  reads,  when  the  Constitution  says,  "  We,  the  people 
of  the  United  States,"  it  means  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  States ; 
of  course  it  does ;  and  that,  of  course,  liberates  every  slave  in  the  beginning. 

Now,  what  is  the  object?  Among  other  things,  "to  establish  justice." 
Is  slavery  "justice?"  is  it  consistent  with  "justice?"  Can  "justice"  be 
"  established "  without  the  abolition  of  slavery  ?  Of  course  it  cannot. 
But  this  is  not  all.  "  To  establish  justice,  and  to  secure  the  blessings  of 
liberty  for  ourselves  and  our  posterity,  do  make  and  ordain  this  Constitution 
for  the  United  States  of  America."  Mark  again  the  language  :  "  Do  make 
and  ordain  this  Constitution  for  the  United  States  of  America.'^  This  is 
not  restricting  it  to  the  territories.  Now,  there  are  men,  intelligent  men, 
legislators  in  this  nation,  leading  men  in  the  Republican  party,  who  will  tell 
you  that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  provides  for  the  territories, 
but  not  for  the  States. 

[At  this  point  Mr.  Goodell  was  interrupted  by  calls  of  "  time,"  and  a 
motion  was  made  that  the  ten  minutes'  rule  be  suspended,  but  it  was  lost. 
Mr.  G.  said  he  could  not  believe  that  it  was  the  design  of  the  audience  to 
choke  off  the  discussion  of  the  only  practicable  way  of  removing  slavery, 
and  expressed  the  hope  that  he  might  be  allowed  to  complete  his  argument. 
Some  discussion  followed,  and  the  question  was  again  put,  with  the  same 
result  —  the  Convention  refused  to  suspend  the  rule.] 

John  Beeson.  I  stand  before  you  as  the  representative  of  the  Aborig- 
ines of  this  country.  It  is  the  first  time  they  have  ever  had  a  representa- 
tive in  any  Convention  of  Reformers  since  Reform  began.  In  their  behalf, 
I  want  to  read  a  preamble  and  resolutions,  to  be  discussed  whenever  the 
Convention  shall  see  fit  to  call  them  up  :  — 

Whereas,  Oppression  and  aggressive  war  are  as  incompatible  with  a  true  civilization 
as  they  are  with  a  true  Christianity ;  and,  whereas,  these  agencies  are  used  to  carry  out 
what  is  supposed  to  be  the  destiny  of  the  Red  Man's  race ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  it  is  incumbent  upon  the  advocates  of  reform  and  human  brotherhood 
to  maintain  the  inalienable  rights  of  the  Indian  as  well  as  those  of  any  other  people. 

Resolved,  That  a  united  national  effort  to  save  the  remnant  of  the  tribes  within  our 
territories,  as  purposed  by  the  Indian  Aid  Association,  is  called  for  by  the  aggressions 
to  which  the  Indians  are  subject,  as  well  as  by  the  humanitary  spirit  of  the  age  we 
live  in. 

Mrs.  Rose.  Friends, —  This  morning,  I  said  that  in  so  far  as  I  am  a 
Woman's  Rights  woman,  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  throw  in  my  mite  in  behalf  of 
that  right  which  we  claim  as  women.  Now,  I  would  say,  as  a  Human 
Rights  woman,  it  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  be  able  to  say  a  few  words  in 


94  THE    EUTLAND     CONVENTION. 

favor  of  that  universal  principle  of  human  rights,  which  shall  exclude  no 
one  —  neither  sex,  nor  country,  nor  color. 

I  need  not  speak  to  you  here  about  the  wrongs  of  slavery.  I  hope  and 
trust  there  is  not  a  being  before  me  who  has  a  shadow  of  doubt  in  his  or  her 
mind  as  to  the  wrong  in  principle,  and  the  pernicious  effect  in  practice,  of 
slavery.  Human  slavery !  Who  can  fathom  it  ?  Who  knows  what  human 
slavery  is,  in  all  its  length  and  breadth  ?  If  we  had  here  the  African,  just 
imported  from  his  native  land,  with  the  chains  yet  corroding  on  his  neck 
and  limbs,  he,  indeed,  could  tell  us  what  slavery  means.  Tell  us  —  how? 
Would  he  need  argument  ?  —  would  he  need  logic  ?  No,  friends ;  all  the 
logic  that  could  be  conjured  up  would  fall  like  so  many  drops  of  water  in 
the  presence  of  those  clanking  chains.  They  would  tell  what  slavery  is. 
But  I  need  not  speak  on  that  subject ;  for  I  have  presumed,  and  do  presume, 
that  every  heart  bleeds  when  the  thought  is  suggested,  that  a  human  being, 
created  with  the  same  powers,  endowed  with  the  same  faculties,  for  the  same 
aims  and  ends  of  life,  is  subject  to  the  power,  aye,  the  irresponsible  power, 
of  any  other  human  being ;  but  I  will  say  a  few  words  with  regard  to  the 
remedy. 

I  was  exceedingly  glad  to  hear  the  resolutions  of  Mr.  Goodell,  not  only 
because  they  appeared  to  me  strong,  and  the  principles  good,  but  because  he 
accompanied  them  with  the  remark,  that  it  is  high  time  something  effectual 
should  be  done  for  the  poor  slaves.  But  I  must  mention  a  different  impres- 
sion which  a  sentence  of  his  yesterday  produced  on  my  mind ;  and  as  I  did 
not,  and  do  not,  wish  to  do  him  injustice,  I  am  glad  that  I  did  not  take  it  up 
until  I  had  heard  him  to-day.  In  reply  to  Mr.  Brittan's  remarks  yesterday, 
I  said  that  in  my  estimation,  to  use  our  limited  lives  and  power  and  means 
to  break  the  chains  of  the  slave,  to  elevate  woman,  to  do  away  with  igno- 
rance, and  with  poverty,  were  infinitely  more  necessary  than  to  speculate 
about  the  future.  Mr.  Goodell  said  that  it  was  not  so  ;  that  it  was  more 
necessary  to  begin  with  the  inquiry  whether  man  is  immortal  or  not ;  for, 
said  he,  if  we  find  that  he  is  not  immortal,  that  he  dies  like  the  brute,  then 
he  may  live  like  the  brute,  and  we  have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  My  very 
soul  revolted  against  that  outrage  upon  humanity.  Whether  we  live  here- 
after or  not,  we  live  here,  and  so  does  the  slave.  I  am  most  happy  to  know 
that  our  friend  does  not  carry  out  the  obnoxious  doctrine  he  mentioned  yes- 
terday.    Now  I  will  go  back  to  the  slave,  for  I  have  digressed. 

What  shall  we  do  to  get  rid  of  slavery  ?  Our  friend  has  alluded  to  the 
various  methods  that  have  been  tried,  and  he  has  truthfully  proclaimed 
their  failure ;  and  the  great  question  is  to-day,  as  it  ever  has  been,  what  is 
to  be  done?  Before  suggesting  the  remedy,  our  friend  told  us  that  the 
Constitution  was  not  a  pro-slavery  Constitution,  and,  not  being  a  pro-slavery 
Constitution,  slavery  is  wrong.  Why,  we  know  that.  Whether  the  Con- 
stitution is  pro-slavery  or  not,  slavery  still  is  wrong.  It  reminded  me  of 
the  case  of  a  man  who  was  once,  by  some  mistake,  cast  into  prison.  He 
sent  for  his  lawyer,  and  when  he  came,  he  asked  him  what  he  had  been  put 
in  there  for.  He  said  that  he  did  not  know ;  that  he  had  violated  no  law, 
so  far  as  he  knew,  and  had  committed  no  crime.  "  If  that  is  the  case,"  said 
the  lawyer,  "  they  had  no  cause  against  you,  and  they  cannot  put  you  in 
prison."  "  But,  my  dear  sir,"  said  the  man,  "  I  am  in  prison."  The  slave 
is  in  the  same  condition.  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  for  him, 
the  people  are  for  him  ;  there  is  no  reason  why  he  should  be  in  chains;  but 
he  is  in  chains  ;  do  you  not  hear  them  clank  ?      Aye,  they  clank  in  every 


SLAVERY.  95 

heart  as  well  as  in  every  ear.  What  is  to  be  done  ?  To  proclaim  that 
slavery  is  not  in  the  Constitution  ?  You  might  proclaim  it  from  now  to 
eternity,  and  the  Constitution  would  never  redeem  the  slave.  It  depends 
upon  interpreters,  like  the  Bible  ;  and  were  it  not  that  the  Constitution,  like 
the  Bible,  is  so  dark  and  equivocal,  that  it  requires  all  the  different  inter- 
preters to  decide  upon  its  meaning,  then  the  evils  of  which  we  now  com- 
plain would  not  exist.  What  is  to  be  done,  then  ?  Let  the  North  rise 
like  one  man,  and  let  them  say,  "  Constitution  or  no  Constitution,  Bible  or 
no  Bible,  slavery  is  wrong."  The  slave  is  a  human  being;  and,  as  a  human 
being,  he  has  human  rights.  Human  rights  are  older  than  all  written 
books  —  Korans,  Shasters,  Bibles,  Constitutions.  As  men  have  written 
them,  men  can  unwrite  them  and  rewrite  them  again ;  and  it  is  much  easier 
to  make  a  new  garment  than  to  patch  up  an  old  one  :  and  if  the  people  in 
the  so-called  free  States  really  understood  and  loved  freedom,  they  would 
say  so. 

But  I  am  told  the  dissolution  of  the  Union  would  follow.  "  Dissolution 
of  the  Union  "  !  Where  is  the  Union?  Echo  answers,  "Where  ?"  Free- 
dom and  slavery  can  have  no  union  together.  Do  you  doubt  it?  Go,  any  one 
of  you,  across  Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  and  say  that  your  soul  is  your  own, 
and  you  will  find  it  out.  I  will  mention  a  fact.  Four  years  ago,  I  was  in 
Washington,  where  I  spoke  on  the  Nebraska  Bill  —  against  it,  of  course. 
From  there  I  went  to  Alexandria,  Virghiia.  There  I  spoke  on  the 
Woman's  Rights  question,  —  the  first  evening  on  the  educational  part  of  the 
question,  and  the  second,  on  her  civil  and  political  rights.  While  speaking 
on  the  subject,  I  replied  to  the  argument  which  is  often  brought  up  in  op- 
position to  our  claims,  namely,  that  the  ladies  say  they  have  rights  enough. 
In  my  reply,  I  said  that  history  has  demonstrated  the  fact,  that  he  who  is 
the  most  willing  and  submissive  slave,  give  him  the  power,  and  he  will  be 
the  most  implacable  tyrant.  I  mentioned  the  word  "  slave,"  not  in  connec- 
tion with  slavery,  but  simply  in  connection  with  the  subject  of  woman's 
rights  ;  but  it  was  enough.  It  aroused  the  whole  audience.  The  papers 
came  out  the  next  day,  and  said,  "  Mrs.  Rose  spoke  very  well,  until  she  un- 
dertook to  meddle  with  our  institutions,  and  if  she  comes  here  again,  the 
people  will  have  to  protect  themselves."  Courageous  South !  Chivalric 
South !  A  little  woman  utters  the  word  "  slave,"  and  their  institutions  are 
in  danger !     [Applause.] 

Mr.  GooDELL.  Mrs.  Rose  misunderstands  what  I  said  yesterday.  I 
did  not  mean  to  say  —  of  course  I  did  not  —  that  it  was  no  matter  what  be- 
came of  the  slave  in  this  present  life,  provided  there  was  no  future.  My 
idea  was  this,  and  all  history,  as  well  as  all  philosophy,  will  corroborate 
the  idea :  the  moment  you  have  taken  away  the  dignity  of  man,  the  mo- 
ment you  have  taken  away  his  immortal  nature,  and  moral  character,  that 
moment,  in  the  popular  estimation,  he  is  reduced  to  a  brute,  and  he  cannot 
have  his  liberties  maintained. 

Stephen  S.  Foster,  of  Worcester,  Mass.,  then  addressed  the  Conven- 
tion, speaking  to  the  resolution  on  slavery  in  the  regular  series :  — 

Resolved,  That  Slavery  is  a  wrong,  which  no  power  in  the  universe  can  make  right ; 
therefore,  any  law,  constitution,  court,  or  government,  any  church,  priesthood,  creed,  or 
Bible,  any  Christ,  or  any  God,  that,  by  silence  or  otherwise,  authorizes  man  to  enslave 
man,  merits  the  scorn  and  contempt  of  mankind. 


96  THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

SPEECH  OF  S.  S.  FOSTER. 

Mr.  Chairman:  —  I  hope  we  shall  feel  kindly  towards  each  other, 
for  we  cannot  reform  the  world  by  introducing  the  spirit  of  love  and  kind- 
ness, until  that  spirit  finds  a  lodgment  in  our  own  hearts ;  and  however  we 
may  differ  one  from  another,  owing  to  our  blindness,  I  hope  we  shall  give 
the  world  this  evidence,  namely,  "  that  we  love  one  another." 

Sir,  this  Convention  was  called  as  a  Reform  Convention,  and  claims  to  be 
a  Reform  Convention ;  and  we,  as  members  of  this  body,  claim  to  be  reform- 
ers. What,  then,  is  the  first  work  of  reformers  ?  Is  it  not  to  reform  them- 
selves ?  How  can  we  impart  to  others  that  which  we  do  not  ourselves 
possess  ?  What  we  have,  we  can  give ;  but  how  can  we  give  what  we  have 
not  ?  Until  we  have  first  reformed  ourselves,  we  can  not  reform  our  neigh- 
bors. Then,  again,  if  we  are  intelligent  reformers,  we  must  begin  with  our- 
selves and  with  the  community  in  reforming  the  worst  evil  first.  Why 
strain  at  a  gnat,  while  we  are  all  the  time  gulping  down  camels  ?  [Laughter.] 
I  hold  that,  as  intelligent  men  and  women,  we  must  begin,  with  the  commu- 
nity and  with  ourselves,  where  the  greatest  crimes  begin,  and  having  reformed 
them  out  of  the  way,  we  can  reach  the  lesser  ones  ;  but  we  can  never  remove 
the  lesser  ones,  until  we  have  removed  the  greater. 

Sir,  what  is  the  great  sin  of  this  nation  to-day  ?  It  is  standing  with  an 
iron  heel  upon  the  palpitating  hearts  of  four  millions  of  native-born  Ameri- 
cans. Do  you  realize  that  we  have  in  our  midst,  four  millions  of  brethren 
and  sisters  who  are  forbidden  by  the  laws  of  the  Republic  to  learn  the 
alphabet  ? 

Mr.  Beeson.     Four  millions  and  a  half,  Indians  as  well  as  slaves. 

Mr.  Foster.  That  only  makes  it  worse.  I  repeat  it ;  in  this  nineteenth 
century,  a  nation,  that  every  seventh  day  goes  on  its  knees  before  God, 
thanking  him  that  we  live  in  a  land  of  Gospel  light  and  civil  and  religious 
liberty,  denies,  on  pains  of  stripes  and  imprisonment,  its  own  Sacred  Scrip- 
tures to  one-seventh  part  of  its  population,  —  and  we  are  to  talk  about  a 
belief  in  immortality,  are  we  ?  We  are  to  discuss  the  question  whether 
spirits  in  the  other  world  can  communicate  with  us,  are  we  ?  Sir,  while  we 
stand  here,  there  are  four  million  native  Americans,  every  one  of  whom 
has  been  plundered  of  every  farthing  he  ever  earned,  and  his  race  robbed  of 
all  it  ever  produced.  The  slave  population  has  earned  thousands  of  millions 
of  dollars,  and  yet,  altogether,  they  are  not  the  possessors  of  a  solitary  far- 
thing. It  has  all  been  clutched  by  the  government  of  which  we  constitute 
some  of  the  main  pillars.  The  government  of  our  country,  instead  of  pro- 
tecting these  men  against  robbery,  has  invariably  protected  the  robber 
against  his  plundered  victim,  —  has  it  not  ?  These  are  the  circumstances 
under  which  we  are  assembled  to-day,  —  and  that  is  not  the  worst  feature 
by  any  means.  We  have  heard  a  great  deal  upon  this  platform  on  the 
subject  of  woman's  wrongs,  and  my  heart  has  bled  as  I  have  listened  to  the 
recital.  But  the  darkest  shade  of  this  dark  picture  is  yet  to  be  presented  to 
this  Convention.  Do  you  know  that  there  are  two  millions  of  women  in  this 
land,  for  whom  to  lift  a  hand  against  their  ravisher  is  a  capital  offence  ? 
Such  is  the  law  of  this  nation.  It  not  only  withdraws  all  protection  from 
them,  but  it  makes  it  a  crime  for  a  woman  to  lift  her  hand  against  the  rav- 
isher, and  threatens  instant  death  to  her  father,  brother,  son,  or  husband  (in 
the  eye  of  God,)  if  they  shall  dare  to  protect  her  against  the  foulest  ruffian 
the  sun  ever  shone  upon  !  That  is  American  law,  in  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth century !    That  is  Republicanism !    This  is  a  "  model  Republic ; "  this 


SLAVERY.  97 

is  a  "  Christian  "  nation  ;  this  is  a  nation  studded  all  over  with  chnrches, 
built  professedly  to  the  living  God  ;  and  this  exists  in  the  full  sunshine  of 
the  belief  in  that  Bible  that  our  friend  Mayo,  even,  told  us  last  night,  had 
done  so  much  for  civilization.  The  nation  that  above  all  others  boasts  of  its 
belief  in  the  infallibility  of  the  Bible,  makes  it  a  State  Prison  offence  for  us 
to  teach  its  sacred  contents  to  our  brethren !  Under  these  circumstances,  it 
seems  to  me  that  our  spiritualist  friends  ought  not  to  be  impatient  if  we 
devote  one  full  session  to  the  consideration  of  this  greatest  of  all  crimes. 

My  heart  has  been  pained  and  sunk  within  me  as  I  have  listened  to  the  dis- 
cussions which  have  been  going  on  before  this  audience.  While  the  speak- 
ers were  talking  of  the  affairs  of  the  other  world,  all  ears  were  open ; 
but  the  moment  an  appeal  was  made  in  behalf  of  four  millions,  every  one  of 
whom  has  been  plundered  of  every  right  that  God  gave  him,  that  moment, 
all  attention  was  diverted  from  the  platform,  and  there  was  conversation  and 
laughter  all  over  this  vast  audience. 

Mr.  Chairman,  there  is  one  feature  of  this  black  system  to  which  I  must 
call  the  attention  of  this  audience.  The  office  of  mother  has  been  alluded  to 
on  this  platform,  and  it  has  been  extolled  to  the  very  highest  degree.  Wei 
have  been  told  that  there  is  nothing  on  this  earth  that  has  such  a  perfect 
resemblance  to  creative  Deity  as  the  mother.  But  do  you  realize  that  since 
you  sat  upon  this  platform  yesterday,  at  this  hour,  over  four  hundred  Amer- 
ican mothers  have  been  robbed  of  their  new-born  babes,  every  one  of  whom 
has  been  thrown  into  the  market  as  a  chattel  personal,  torn  from  its  moth- 
ers' arms  and  sold  to  the  slave-trader,  just  as  I  take  the  calf  from  the  cow 
and  sell  it  to  the  butcher.  And  yet,  we  pretend  to  venerate  woman  as 
mother !  We  are  talking  about  her  noble  position  in  the  community  as 
mother,  and  the  next  day  selling  her  on  the  auction-block,  with  cattle,  swine 
and  mules  !  —  herself  and  her  new-born  baby  to  different  owners,  to  be  sent 
to  different  States  of  this  Union,  never  to  meet  again  until  they  meet  in  the 
world  of  spirits !  And  that  is  American  law !  There  is  not  a  political 
party  in  the  country,  with  the  exception  of  a  little  handful  of  men  scarcely 
known  beyond  the  State  where  they  originated,  that  does  not  swear  by  the 
living  God,  they  will  execute  that  law,  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet. 

Mr.  John  Land  on.  We  are  all  anti-slavery  here.  We  are  ready  to 
act. 

Mr.  Foster.  I  am  told  that  you  are  all  anti-slavery  here,  and  ready  to 
act.  In  God's  name,  why  don't  you  act  ?  I  ask  the  gentleman  to  answer 
that  question  —  "  Why  don't  you  act  ?  " 

Mr.  Landon.     We  don't  send  any  doughfaces  to  Congress.     [Laughter.] 

Mr.  Foster.  No  ;  but  you  send  men  whose  hearts  are  as  hard  as  flints 
against  the  appeal  of  the  slave  mother.  [Applause.]  You  have  yet  to  send 
the  first  man  who  will  make  an  effort  to  abolish  the  slave  system. 

Mr.  Landon.     We  will  give  the  pound  of  flesh,  but  no  blood. 

Mr.  Foster.  Yes ;  and  what  is  that  flesh  ?  It  is  the  four  millions  who 
are  held  under  State  laws ;  and  there  is  a  Vermonter  who  tells  us  he  will 
give  up  the  four  millions  to  slavery,  but  no  more.     [Laughter  and  cheers.] 

Mr.  Landon.  No,  sir ;  we  will  give  them  the  pound  of  flesh,  but  not 
a  drop  of  blood. 

Mr.  Foster.  Yes ;  but  that  pound  of  flesh  is  the  slave.  Understand 
that,  my  compromising  friend.     [Laughter.] 

Mr.  Landon.  I  would  not  perpetrate  a  pious  fraud  in  order  that  good 
might  come. 

Mr.  Foster.     No,  but  you  would  perpetrate  an  impi<xm  one,  —  swear 
7 


98  THE    RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

to  support  a  "  covenant  with  death  and  an  agreement  with  hell,"  because 
your  father  made  it.  There  is  no  piety  about  this  fraud,  my  friend.  It  is 
all  from  the  bottomless  pit,  from  beginning  to  end.  There  is  no  hidden 
cloven  foot  about  it.  The  iniquity  was  never  concealed.  From  the  outset, 
eveiy  vote  has  been  for  the  Southern  kidnapper,  and  you  have  not  had  a 
party  in  existence  in  this  State,  or  in  any  otlier,  —  with  the  exception  to 
which  1  have  referred,  —  that  did  not  propose,  not  only  not  to  protect  the 
slave  in  Carolina,  but  not  to  protect  him  even  on  your  own  soil. 

A  Voice.     The  Republican  party  are  doing,  while  you  are  talking. 

Mr.  Foster.  Doing  what  ?  Hunting  slaves  ?  [Laughter.]  Tell  me 
what  else  you  are  doing.  Down  on  all  fours,  hunting  slaves!  [Laughter 
and  applause.]  Yes,  in  the  language  of  the  editor  of  one  of  the  most  influ- 
ential papers  of  Massachusetts,  who,  speaking  of  the  slaveholder,  says, 
"  We  are  his  hounds.  Up  to  Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  the  slave-owner 
hunts  his  victim  with  dog  and  gun ;  but  on  this  side,  he  sends  his  biped 
hounds  in  pursuit  of  his  victim,  —  that  is,  the  members  of  the  Methodist 
Church." 

Now,  I  appeal  to  the  gentleman  who  said  you  were  ready  to  act,  whether 
you  can  show  the  record  of  any  action  in  your  past  lives  that  is  not  in 
favor  of  slavery. 

Mr.  Land  ON.  I  think  there  can  be  no  question,  if  we  were  called  upon 
to  act,  but  that  you  would  see  a  recognition  of  the  "  higher  law  "  here. 

Mr.  Foster.  I  call  upon  you,  in  the  name  of  four  millions  of  slaves,  to 
go  to  work ;  first,  to  abandon  all  support  of  the  government ;  and,  secondly, 
to  create  a  government,  which,  when  it  comes  into  power,  shall  free  every 
slave  in  this  land. 

A  Voice.     It  can  be  done  to-day. 

Mr.  Foster.  Can  you  begin  it  to-day?  Where  is  the  evidence  of  it? 
Show  me  tlie  party  that  proposes  it,  for  I  want  to  go  and  worship  at  the  spot 
where  it  was  formed !  It  shall  be  my  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill.  But 
if  you  do  intend  to  do  it  now,  you  will  act  in  opposition  to  your  sworn 
pledges.  You  have  taken  an  oath  to  serve  the  devil !  Do  you  intend  to 
break  it  and  follow  Christ  ?  I  tell  you,  my  friends,  Christ  spurns  all  such 
followers,  and  so  do  I.  If  you  are  going  to  swear  to  support  the  devil, 
then  follow  him,  and  I  will  have  some  respect  for  you,  as  a  good,  faithful 
devil.  [Loud  laughter  and  applause.]  But  if  you  swear  to  support  the 
devil,  and  then  attempt  to  serve  Christ,  like  him,  I  will  spew  you  out  of  my 
mouth,  because  you  are  neither  cold  nor  hot. 

I  stand  here  in  the  name  of  four  millions  of  slaves,  to  demand  of  every 
man  and  woman  that  they  shall  put  their  heel  on  the  government  of  this 
country.  Do  I  ask  too  much  ?  [Voices  —  "  No,  no."]  Tell  me  if  I  ask  too 
much,  when  I  ask  you  to  put  your  heel  on  a  government  that  robs  four  millions 
of  human  beings  of  every  day's  work  they  perform,  that  robs  them  of  the 
spelling-book  and  of  the  Bible,  of  the  marriage  and  family  relations,  and 
the  right  to  their  own  bodies  ? 

Some  will  say,  "  This  will  result  in  blood."  Very  likely  it  will.  What 
of  it?  I  ask  you,  is  not  every  one  ready  to  spill  oceans  of  blood,  if 
necessary,  to  secure  his  own  freedom  ? 

Mr.  Landon.  Did  I  understand  Mr.  Foster  to  complain  that  the  slaves 
do  not  have  the  Bible  ?  Does  not  the  Bible  enjoin  submission  to  their 
masters  ? 

Mr.  Foster.  Yes,  submission  to  their  masters,  and  resistance  to  their 
masters.    Christ  says,  "  Call  no  man  your  master  upon  earth."    He  forbids  a 


SLAVERY.  99 

man  to  be  a  slave.  I  hold  it  as  much  a  crime  to  be  a  slave  as  to  be  a  mas- 
ter. I  hold  that  these  women  have  no  business  to  be  slaves.  Shame  on 
you,  sisters !  Why  do  you  not  go  up  to  the  ballot  box  at  the  next  election, 
in  solid  phalanx,  and  demand  your  right  to  vote  ?  [Applause.]  You  will 
have  it  I  Tell  those  miserable  men  to  stand  back  ;  that  you  are  going  to 
take  possession  of  your  rights,  long  plundered  from  you ;  and  I  warrant 
you  every  one  of  them  will  skulk  out  of  the  way.  I  marvel  you  have  not 
done  it  already.  If  I  were  not  a  non-resistant,  and  my  wife  felt  with  me,  I 
would  walk  arm  in  arm  with  her  to  the  polls,  if  I  had  to  wade  knee  deep 
in  blood.  You  pretend  to  be  Spiritualists,  and  believe  in  a  future  life ;  and 
yet,  you  are  so  attached  to  this,  that  you  dare  not  repudiate  this  pro-slavery, 
man-thieving  government,  because  it  may  cost  a  drop  of  blood,  a  scratch 
on  the  face  !  You  believe  in  Spiritualism  ?  Why,  I  have  more  Spiritual- 
ism in  my  little  finger  than  you  have  in  your  whole  bodies.  With  all  my 
non-resistance,  I  do  not  shrink  from  the  thought  of  blood  as  you  do.  What 
is  life  compared  with  character  ?  What  matters  it  to  me  how  I  die,  so  that 
I  die  battling  for  the  right  ?  I  have  got  to  die  some  time.  Death  can  never 
be  more  welcome  tlian  to-day,  if  my  work  is  done.  Is  there  not  a  brighter 
and  better  world  beyond  ?  Why  are  we  so  attached  to  the  low,  vulgar 
things  of  time  and  sense  ?  Why  are  we  willing  to  grope  along  here,  hug- 
ging to  our  bosoms  our  own  property  and  our  own  dear  rights,  while  we 
look  coldly  on  and  see  every  seventh  man,  woman  and  child  in  the  nation 
deprived  of  every  right  ?  What  is  the  use  of  my  life,  I  ask,  if  I  have  got 
to  stand  by  and  see  the  dwellings  of  my  neighbors  consumed  by  fire,  and 
fold  up  my  arms  in  stoical  indifference  ?  I  do  not  know  what  material  my 
fellow-countrymen  are  made  of.  No  man  ever  had  to  argue  the  question  of 
slavery  to  me  a  moment.  It  is  enough  to  point  me  to  my  neighbor's  dwelling 
on  fire  ;  it  is  enough  to  point  me  to  the  slave.  There  is  no  need  of  an  argu- 
ment to  show  me  the  duty  of  going  to  his  relief.  I  cannot  hel]^  going.  The 
cry  of  fire  starts  me  at  once  from  this  platform,  and  the  only  questions  are, 
Where  is  the  fire  ?  and.  Where  are  the  engines  ?  So  tell  me.  There  is 
a  slave,  and  you  have  done  all  that  is  necessary.  The  response  comes 
back.  Where  and  how  can  I  reach  him  ?  I  want  to  fix  every  eye  on  the 
southern  slave.  And  let  me  say  here  and  now,  that  I  never  intend  to  lay 
aside  the  question  of  slavery,  come  what  may.  I  never  intend  to  turn  ray 
eye  from  the  slave  until  the  last  shackle  falls.  I  may  die  in  this  conflict ; 
but  one  thing  is  certain,  I  shall  see  the  slave  free  before  I  die,  or  I  shall 
die  confronting,  with  all  the  power  I  can  command,  the  community  that 
supports  the  government  that  enslaves  him  and  binds  him  in  his  chains. 

I  have  done  now  what  I  came  here  to  do.  In  my  humble  way,  I  have 
lifted  up  my  voice  in  behalf  of  four  millions  in  bonds.  I  leave  the  respon- 
sibility with  you  ;  and  God  is  my  witness,  if  you  go  down  to  the  grave  with 
this  crime  upon  your  souls,  my  soul  is  clean  of  your  blood. 

Thomas  Curtis,  of  Philadelphia,  called  attention  to  the  concluding 
portion  of  the  resolution,  which  declares  that  any  God,  who,  by  silence  or 
otherwise,  authorizes  the  enslavement  of  man,  merits  the  scorn  and  con- 
tempt of  mankind.  Mr.  Foster  had  asked  how  the  people  of  Vermont 
could  be  quiet  when  they  knew  the  slaves  w^ere  thus  wronged  ?  He  (Mr.  C.) 
would  carry  the  argument  still  further,  and  ask  this  God,  who  was  so  much 
talked  about,  why,  if  he  had  all  the  power  that  was  claimed,  he  did  not  go 
down  South  and  put  away  slavery  ?  Was  it  any  wonder  that  the  men  and 
women  who  worship  this   God  did  not  abolish  slavery,  when  he,  who  is 


100  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

said  to  be  all-wise  to  know  how,  and  all-powerful  to  do,  did  not  do  it  ?  Ac- 
cording to  Mr.  Foster,  the  people  of  Vermont  ought  to  go  to  work  to  abolish 
slavery.  If  the  Bible  was  worth  any  thing,  God  was  more  powerful  than  the 
people  of  Vermont;  and  if  he  was  more  powerful,  then  he  ought  to  do  just  as 
much,  in  proportion  to  his  power,  as  the  people  of  Vermont  were  expected 
to  do  in  proportion  to  their  power. 

H.  C.  Wright.  Mr.  President, —  Twenty -five  years  ago,  it  was  the  gen- 
eral sentiment  of  this  nation,  that  if  a  text  could  be  found  in  the  Bible  to 
sanction  slavery,  it  is  right  to  hold  slaves ;  that  if  God,  through  Moses, 
Isaiah,  Paul,  or  Christ,  pronounced  slavery  right,  it  is  right ;  that  God  could, 
by  an  arbitrary  record,  convert  a  truth  into  a  lie  and  a  lie  into  a  truth,  jus- 
tice into  injustice  and  injustice  into  justice,  right  into  wrong  and  wrong  into 
right.  So  by  a  mere  word,  God  could  make  war  and  death  penalty  right 
and  expedient.     So  in  regard  to  slavery. 

The  resolution  asserts  that  no  power  in  the  universe  can  make  slavery 
right.  No  matter  what  the  Court,  the  Constitution,  the  Bible,  or  the  Church 
says  —  no  matter  what  Christ  says.  The  right  or  wrong  of  slavery  depends 
not  on  the  word  of  the  Bible,  or  of  Christ.  No  power,  though  called  God, 
can  make  it  right  for  man  to  enslave  man.  The  Bible,  Christ  and  God  are, 
practically,  to  each  man  and  nation,  just  what  they  conceive  them  to  be.  As 
conceived  of  by  the  American  church  and  clergy,  and  the  American  Union, 
God  sanctions  slavery — and  it  is  maintained  that  the  government,  in  sus- 
taining and  propagating  slavery,  is  only  carrying  out  the  will  of  what  this 
nation  and  church  worship  as  God. 

The  resolution  asserts  that  the  Bible,  the  Christ  and  God  of  the  Ameri- 
can church  and  nation  are  to  be  treated  with  "  scorn  and  contempt,"  because 
they  sustain  this  colossal  crime.  I  was  once  asked,  *'  Would  you  enslave  a 
man  if  God  told  you  to  ?  "  "  No,"  I  said.  "  What  would  you  do  ?  "  asked 
the  man  —  a  priest.  "  I  would  say  to  such  a  God,  Get  behind,  Satan  — 
thou  art  an  offence  unto  me,"  was  my  answer.  God,  as  he  sits  enthroned  in 
the  hearts  and  heads  of  American  Christians,  priests  and  politicians,  is  the 
great  citadel  of  American  slavery.  No  man,  familiar  with  the  history  of 
the  past  twenty-five  years,  in  regard  to  the  Anti-Slavery  cause,  can  doubt 
this.  If  the  people  were  once  entirely  convinced  that  their  God  was  opposed 
to  slavery,  they  would  cease  to  sustain  this  wrong.  The  church  and  clergy 
have  not  dared  to  denounce  slavery  as  a  sin,  per  se,  for  fear,  as  they  say,  of 
fighting  against  God. 

I  deny  the  right  of  God  to  enslave  man.  God  has  no  more  right  to  do 
wrong  than  man  has.  God  is  under  fixed  laws  of  truth,  justice,  mercy,  and 
liberty,  as  well  as  man.  A  lawless  God !  A  world  ruled  by  a  lawless  God ! 
The  God  of  Nature  has  not  only  no  disposition,  but  has  no  right  to  enslave 
man.  You  may  be  sure  that  your  conception  of  God  is  utterly  false,  and 
that  you  are  a  worshipper  of  a  devil,  if  God,  as  you  apprehend  him,  sanc- 
tions slavery  or  war.  Better  no  God,  than  a  God  of  war,  and  battles,  or  of 
slave-holding  and  slave-hunting.  There  is  more  reason,  more  humanity, 
and  more  dignity  in  worshipping  God  as  represented  in  a  crocodile,  a 
shark,  or  an  annaconda,  than  in  a  slave-holder.  There  is  more  purity,  and 
sound  sense,  and  morality,  more  of  true  divinity,  in  the  worship  of  Jugger- 
naut, of  Jupiter,  Bacchus  or  Venus,  than  in  the  worship  paid  by  the  Ameri- 
can church  and  people  to  the  God  of  American  slavery.  An  Anti-Slavery 
Atheism  is  a  far  more  pure  and  ennobling  religion  than  a  pro-slavery  Chris- 
tianity ;  and  an  Anti-Slavery  anarchy  more  just,  humane  and  conducive  to 
human  welfare,  than  a  slave-holding  and  slave-hunting  government.     The 


SLAVERY.  101 

worship  of  Venus,  Mars,  Bacchus,  and  Mercury,  among  the  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans, never  led  to  such  disgusting  licentiousness  —  such  monstrous  incests  — 
such  thefts,  robberies  and  murders,  as  the  worship  of  the  God  of  slavery,  as 
it  is  sustained  in  this  nation.  Until  the  people  learn  to  treat  with  scorn  and 
contempt  all  Constitutions,  Bibles,  Christs,  and  Gods  that  sanction  slavery, 
and  fall  back  on  the  "  self-evident,  inalienable  truth  that  all  are  born  free," 
they  can  never  put  on  that  armor  which  is  mighty  to  the  pulling  down  of 
this  strong-hold  of  iniquity.  I  will  never  appeal  to  any  Constitution,  Bible, 
Christ,  or  God,  outside  of  my  own  soul,  in  an  argument  against  slavery. 
Bible  or  no  Bible,  Christ  or  no  Christ,  God  or  no  God,  every  human  being, 
by  virtue  of  a  law  of  his  being,  knows  slavery  to  be  wrong,  when  applied  to 
himself.  And  he  that  knows  it  is,  wrong  when  others  enslave  him,  knows 
that  it  is  wrong  when  he  enslaves  others. 

The  people  of  this  nation  see  and  worship  their  God  in  the  Union.  The 
Union  embodies  God  to  them ;  and  to  save  the  Union  they  hold  four  mil- 
lions as  brutes  and  chattels.  One  shout  is  ever  going  up  from  this  nation : 
*'  The  glorious  Union ! "  "  The  God-ordained  Union !  It  must  and  shall  be 
preserved  ! "  Pulpit,  platform  and  press  are  ever  shouting.  Nine  cheers  for 
the  Union,  and  for  the  God  of  the  Union !  Yet  the  most  insane,  fanatical 
Democrat  among  you  would  not  give  up  himself  nor  his  child  to  slavery  to 
save  the  Union. 

This  reminds  me  of  an  incident  in  connection  with  a  lecture  on  this  text : 
"  Is  the  Union  for  man,  or  man  for  the  Union  ?"  The  place  was  in  a  large 
hall  in  a  Western  village  ;  the  time,  the  Sunday  before  the  last  Presidential 
election.  The  town  was  in  great  excitement.  Bitter  and  fierce  was  the 
conflict  between  Repi*blican  and  Democrat  —  Fremont  and  Buchanan.  I 
had  a  large  audience  before  me,  and  all  were  greatly  excited.  "  Is  there 
one  in  this  assembly,"  I  asked,  "who  would  give  up  a  man  to  slavery  to 
save  the  Union  ?  If  so,  let  him  speak ;  I  would  like  to  see  his  face."  One 
man,  sitting  before  me,  near  by,  cried  out,  "  Yes,  I  would,"  He  was  a 
leader  of  the  Democratic  party.  I  knew  him  and  his  family.  He  had  two 
children,  about  ten  and  eight  years  old  —  Minnie  and  Fannie  —  one  sitting 
on  his  right,  the  other  on  his  left,  leaning  their  heads  against  him.  "  What," 
said  I,  "would  you  consign  a  fellow-being  to  slavery  to  save  the  Union?" 
"  Yes,  I  would,"  he  cried  out.  "  Look,  my  friend,"  said  I,  "  at  your  two 
young  daughters  sitting  by  your  side,  would  you  give  them  up  to  be  sold 
like  beasts,  at  auction,  to  be  consigned  to  the  pollution  and  lash  of  the  broth- 
els and  plantations  of  the  South,  to  save  the  Union?"  He  shuddered  — 
looked  round  at  Httle  Fannie  —  she  smiled  in  his  face  ;  then  he  looked  at 
little  Minnie,  and  she  looked  up  and  smiled  in  his  face  so  lovingly  and  trust- 
ingly. The  man  shook  like  one  in  an  ague  fit,  a  voice  of  horror  burst  from 
the  depths  of  his' father's  heart,  and  he  said,  "I'd  see  the  union  in 
HELL  FIRST."  "  I  knew  you  would,"  I  said.  "  Where,  then,  would  you 
see  it  before  you  would  consign  your  neighbor's  daughters  to  such  a  doom 
to  save  it  ?  "  There  is  not  a  man  in  this  Convention,  nor  in  all  the  North, 
who  would  not  see  this  Union  in  hell  before  he  would  consign  his  young 
daughters  to  slavery  to  save  it. 

Down,  then,  with  all  Constitutions  and  Unions  —  down  with  ail  churches, 
religions  and  Bibles  —  down  with  all  Christs  and  all  Gods,  that  cannot  exist 
without  enslaving  or  killing  men !  Let  man  be  sacred !  Perish  all  Bibles, 
Christs  and  Gods,  that  would  desecrate  him  ! 

II.  B.  Storer,  of  New  Haven.  I  would  speak  on  the  subject  of  slavery, 
also,  and  not  confine  my  remarks  entirely  to  one  species  of  slavery.     I  be- 


102  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

lieve,  sii^  there  is  a  slavery  that  would  prevent  us  from  speaking,  in  a  free 
Convention,  upon  any  other  subject,  perhaps,  than  negro  slavery.  Now,  sir, 
I  speak  of  that  kind  of  slavery  which  tends  to  prevent  free  discussion  in  re- 
gard to  any  subject  upon  which  men  are  in  ignorance.  I  will  read  one  of 
the  resolutions  that  are  before  us  :  — 

Resolved,  That  the  conviction  of  the  possibility  aud  actuality  of  spirit  intercourse  is 
opposed  to  all  despotism,  impurity  and  sensualism,  and  conduces  to  the  inauguration  of 
the  only  authority  consistent  with  the  human  soul,  or  favorable  to  sound  morality. 

Mr.  Chairman,  while  I  deeply  sympathize  with  the  slaves  of  the  South, 
I  also  sympathize  with  those  who,  here  in  Rutland,  here  in  this  Green 
Mountain  State,  and  all  over  New  England  and  throughout  the  land,  are 
subject  to  a  slavery  that  I  consider  infinitely  worse  than  the  bondage  of  the 
African,  namely,  the  slavery  to  a  belief,  that  the  children  we  love  are  con- 
signed by  God,  in  a  future  world,  to  a  torment  that  shall  never  end.  The 
fact  that  children  are  torn  from  their  parents  and  sold  on  the  auction-block, 
has  been  introduced  here  as  one  of  the  greatest  wrongs  and  injuries  that  can 
be  inflicted  on  humanity.  But  what  is  that,  compared  with  the  idea  that  chil- 
dren are  taken  from  their  parents,  and  are,  for  all  eternity,  consigned  to  hell, 
and  separated  from  those  nearest  and  dearest  to  them  ?  Therefore  I  assert 
that  the  subject  of  Spiritualism  has  a  direct  and  immediate  relation  to  this 
question  of  slavery.  It  is  asked,  "Are  we  to  gaze  upon  the  stars,  are  we  to 
question  the  spiritual  world  as  to  its  business  and  inhabitants,  when  we  see 
our  own  flesh  and  blood  consigned  to  slavery  ?  "  I  feel,  as  regards  slavery, 
that  it  affects  you  and  me  to-day  as  much  as  it  affects  the  people  of  the 
South ;  and  I  believe  there  is  as  much  injury  done  by  ignorance  and  mis- 
conception in  the  land,  as  there  is  injury  to  humanity  in  the  Southern  States. 
Consequently,  I  would  have  a  very  full  expression  on  this  subject ;  and  I 
say  that  all  reformers  should  so  subject  their  own  passions  as  to  be  able  to 
come  together  and  discuss  any  subject  with  kind  feelings  towards  each  other, 
believing  that  they  are  all  striving  to  vindicate  humanity,  and  that  they  are 
all  brothers. 

There  is  one  other  point.  It  has  been  said  that  the  Bible  is  kept  from 
the  Southern  slave.  Spiritualism  proves  that  although  the  Bible  may  be 
kept  from  the  slave,  yet  a  living  inspiration  may  reach  to  him  to-day  ;  that 
those  great  principles  recorded  in  the  Bible  may  come  to-day  to  the  South- 
ern slave,  and  nerve  him  to  resist  oppression,  and  bring  him  out  from  the 
bondage  in  which  he  has  so  long  groaned.  Therefore,  I  believe  the  influ- 
ence of  the  spirit  world  is  upon  the  slave,  and  upon  the  master  of  the  slave. 
To-day,  conversing  with  a  friend  in  the  Convention,  I  was  told  that  he  had 
in  his  house  a  gentleman  from  the  South  who  had  recently  liberated  all  his 
slaves,  and  was  induced  to  do  so  by  modern  Spiritualism.  That  was  prac- 
tical abolitionism,  and  I  attribute  it  entirely  to  the  influence  of  the  spirit 
world. 

H.  P.  Cutting,  of  Castleton,  Vt.  I  suppose,  Mr.  President,  that  the 
very  fact  that  Spiritualism  exists  is  reason  enough  that  it  has  a  right  to  be. 
That  it  has  a  good  mission  to  perform,  no  one  can  doubt  who  takes  ah  en- 
larged view  of  things.  But  I  do  not  feel  so  much  interested  in  Spiritualism 
as  I  do  in  the  philosophy  of  human  freedom,  —  that  is,  the  freedom  which 
pertains  more  directly  to  the  liberation  of  the  human  mind  from  its  bond- 
age to  dogmas,  and  the  human  body  from  its  bondage  to  masters.  The 
question  has  been  put,  but  I  do  not  see  that  it  has  been  at  all  answered. 
By  what  means  can  we  possibly  liberate  the  human  mind  from  its  tram- 


SLAVERY.  103 

mels  and  the  bondman  frcm  slavery  ?  It  seems  to  me  that  there  are 
two  or  three  fundamental  truths,  which,  if  we  were  taught  them,  and  they 
•were  faithfully  developed  in  us,  as  pure  and  living  principles,  would  be 
direct  stepping-stones  by  which  this  might  be  accomplished.  These  truths 
are  so  very  obvious  that,  as  Coleridge  has  somewhere  remarked,  they  seem  to 
lose  all  their  power  of  truth  from  the  fact  that  they  are  common.  But  they 
do  not  lose  all  their  power  of  truth,  and  if  this  nation  had  been  educated 
by  the  church,  by  the  clergy,  by  the  academy,  and  by  the  common-school, 
by  our  legislators,  and  by  our  lives,  into  a  conception  of  the  idea  of  the 
Divine  Paternity,  I  am  sure  that  this  idea  would  do  more  to  abolish  mental 
and  physical  bondage  than  all  others  combined.  This  idea  of  the  Divine 
Paternity,  fixed  in  the  human  soul,  is  the  very  first  stepping-stone  towards 
the  abolition  of  slavery.  And  this  must  be  done.  There  must  be,  of 
course,  silent  undergrowths ;  there  must  be  culture  ;  there  must  be  sown,  in 
the  first  place,  certain  fundamental  principles.  Man  must  look  at  princi- 
ples ;  the  human  mind  must  be  educated  into  the  truth.  I  claim  on  the 
score  of  this  truth  of  the  Divine  Paternity,  that  it  will  have  a  powerful  influ- 
ence in  sweeping  off  completely  those  theological  lies  that  sprang  up  in  the 
middle  ages,  in  regard  to  God,  and  remove  human  despotism  as  well  as  di- 
vine despotism,  if  such  ideas  have  found  place  in  the  human  soul. 

If  there  is  anybody  who  denies  God  as  father,  of  course  no  reasoning 
from  that  premise  will  have  any  force  with  him.  But  I  take  it  for  granted 
that  you  believe  with  me,  as  a  fundamental  truth  of  physical  and  of  spiritual 
philosophy,  that  God  is  a  father ;  and  being  a  father,  an  unchanging  friend 
to  every  soul  and  to  every  animal  that  is  created, — from  the  humblest  insect 
that  flies  in  the  air  or  floats  in  the  stream,  to  the  highest  archangel  in 
heaven. 

Now,  then,  what  is  the  deduction  from  this  fundamental  truth  ?  This 
other  necessary  truth  follows  —  the  Brotherhood  of  the  Race;  a  very 
simple,  common-sense  doctrine,  that  has  been  preached,  in  one  form  or  an- 
other, ever  since  Plato  argued  with  the  sophists  of  Athens,  but  which 
was  endowed  with  life  and  spiritual  power  by  the  Savior.  It  follows,  that, 
God  being  the  Father,  Mankind  are  Brethren. 

Now,  I  presume  to  say,  from  the  fact  that  I  have  been  born  and  bred  in 
Vermont,  and  know  something  of  these  glorious  hills,  and  a  little  of  these 
glorious  souls  that  are  before  me,  that  this  idea  of  the  Divine  Paternity  and 
the  Brotherhood  of  the  Race  may  be  reduced  to  practice.  It  is  not  an  ab- 
stract idea,  but  a  practical  one ;  and  not  only  the  old  philosophers,  but  the 
common  people,  can  understand  it. 

Now,  then,  what  I  want  to  come  at  is  this,  that  this  doctrine  of  the  Divine 
Paternity  and  the  Brotherhood  of  the  Race  be  taught  clearly,  distinctly,  in 
a  positive  manner.  The  common  sense  of  humanity  —  and  I  respect  the 
common  sense  of  humanity  —  will  comprehend  it ;  and  if  you  were  to  write 
a  creed  to-day,  and  in  that  creed  were  to  embody  certain  fundamental  things, 
this  is  the  one  I  should  take  hold  of,  among  all  the  planks  in  any  philosophi- 
cal platform,  soul,  body,  mind  and  strength.  I  believe  in  man ;  and  I  not 
only  believe  in  man,  but  I  believe  in  woman.  Men  and  women  are  one,  to- 
day and  forever.  This  is  the  Humanitarian  creed;  and  it  grows  necessarily 
out  of  that  first  premise,  namely,  God  the  Father,  all  Mankind  Brethren ; 
therefore  we  are  bound  together  by  ties  that  can  never  be  severed  with  im- 
punity. "  If  one  member  suffers,"  says  the  old  Apostle  Paul,  "  all  the 
members  suffer  ";  and  if  there  is  a  child  under  God's  sweet  heavens,  that  is 
forever  to  sink,  either  in  this  world  or  the  world  to  come,  that  little  baby, 


104  THF,   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

not  a  day  old,  it  may  be,  will  drag  all  humanity  down  to  hell  with  it.  For 
this  is  the  mission  of  humanity  ;  we  have  all  got  to  go  somewhere,  and  we 
shall  go  together,  thank  God !  [Applause.]  The  Orthodox  clergy  assert 
that  only  "  the  elect "  will  go  to  heaven ;  the  "  chosen  ones  "  alone  sing 
sweet  psalms  to  God.  But  who  will  be  in  hell  ?  Plato,  Socrates,  and  the 
long  line  of  statesmen,  martyrs,  saints,  and  heroes  —  where  will  they  be, 
according  to  the  popular  theology  ?  All  in  hell !  If  that  is  their  destiny, 
God  send  me  to  hell,  for  I  would  rather  go  to  hell  and  be  a  man,  than  go  to 
heaven  and  be  a  sneak,  or  something  worse  !     [Loud  applause.] 

Here,  then,  are  two  tangible  facts  —  the  Divine  Paternity  and  the  Broth- 
erhood of  the  Race.  Therefore,  men  and  women,  we  are  one  common  race, 
destined  to  one  common  home,  somewhere,  at  some  time.  The  human  race 
cannot  be  divided,  and,  therefore,  I  as  much  believe  in  the  final  abolition  of 
slavery,  as  I  believe  the  earth  is  performing  its  diurnal  and  nightly  revolu- 
tions. Brother  Foster,  God  bless  him!  has  led  the  van,  and  spoken  the 
great  natural  truths  of  humanity.  In  those  truths  we  are  strong ;  when  we 
reject  them,  we  are  weak ;  and  I  have  been  led  to  make  these  remarks  sim- 
ply for  the  purpose  of  bringing  out  some  tangible  principles,  certain  real 
things,  that  we  can  all  understand,  as  Coleridge  says,  by  the  senses,  if  not  by 
the  pure  reason  of  Kant. 

IcHABOD  Morton,  of  Plymouth.  I  want  to  say  a  word  about  slavery. 
The  slavery  of  the  soul  is  w^orse  than  that  of  the  body.  I  have  been 
in  the  slave  States,  and  have  talked  with  the  slaves  there.  They  say 
the  bodily  labor  is  no  great  burden  to  them,  but  the  enslavement  of  their 
souls  is  what  they  dread.  Now,  how  many  innocent  little  children,  who 
would  go  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  live  a  life  of  brotherly  love,  if  they  could  only 
have  the  idea  set  before  them,  are  being  enslaved  by  Sunday  School  teach- 
ers ?  They  are  being  taught  the  dogma  of  "  salvation  by  the  atonement," 
which  is  not  in  the  teachings  of  Jesus.  Now,  I  want  to  ask  you  if  you  will 
not  exercise  brotherly  and  sisterly  love,  and  carry  out  that  great  principle, 
that  God  is  the  Father  of  all  mankind,  and  show  the  world  that  you  live  in 
brotherhood  with  all,  in  the  family,  in  the  town,  in  the  State  ?  —  and  will 
you  not  cease  keeping  laborers  in  ignorance,  with  no  opportunity  to  develop 
their  souls  ?  The  great  majority  of  them  come  into  the  world  as  animals, 
and  live  and  die  as  animals,  not  having  the  God-like  power  developed  by 
the  true  means  of  education,  which  will,  in  the  coming  time,  be  afforded 
them. 

Mr.  Chandler.  There  was  one  point  suggested  to  my  mind  by  the  re- 
marks of  my  friend  Mr.  Wright,  in  reference  to  the  American  Union,  to 
■which  I  wish  to  refer.  The  last  portion  of  the  resolution  on  slavery  says,  — 
<'  Therefore,  any  law,  constitution,  court  or  government,  any  church,  priest- 
hood, creed  or  Bible,  any  Christ,  or  any  God  that  by  silence  or  otherwise, 
authorizes  man  to  enslave  man,  merits  the  scorn  and  contempt  of  mankind." 
I  wish  to  speak  to  this  point  —  mental  slavery  ;  the  ecclesiastical  power  that 
binds,  not  only  four  millions,  but  more  than  sixteen  millions,  in  these  United 
States,  in  the  chains  of  mental  slavery ;  and  this  same  ecclesiastical  power 
is  linked  in  with  bodily  slavery,  as  well  as  mental.  While,  then,  your  at- 
tention is  called  to  the  God  of  the  slavery  of  the  body,  I  wish  to  call  your 
attention  to  the  ecclesiastical  God,  and  ask  this  audience,  "  If  you  reject  the 
God  of  a  nation  that  enslaves  the  bodies  of  men,  will  you  not  also  reject 
the  ecclesiastical  God  of  the  nation,  that  enslaves  the  minds  and  souls  of 
men  ?  —  this  ecclesiastical  God,  that  tells  you  what  ideas  you  shall  possess  of 
him,  what  you  shall  find  in  the  Bible  and  what  you  shall  not  find  there,  and 


SLAVERY.  105 

what  you  shall  think  in  relation  to  yourselves  and  your  present  and  future 
destiny  ? "  You  know  that  the  bell  calls  together  these  sixteen  and  more 
millions  of  people,  every  Sabbath,  and  you  see  the  streets  teeming  with  men 
and  women,  on  their  way  to  the  various  churches  and  temples  of  worship, 
where  they  dare  not  think  a  thought  for  themselves,  on  the  subject  of  God, 
nor  upon  the  various  branches  of  reform  and  education  which  we  wish  to 
get  before  the  people,  because  the  ecclesiastical  chain  is  there  riveted  from 
Sabbath  to  Sabbath,  and  they  are  taught  that  they  must  reverence  the  min- 
ister and  the  Church,  and  must  limit  their  aspirations,  as  well  as  their 
sentiments  and  views,  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Church,  and  to  such  teachings 
as  they  there  receive. 

Now,  then,  I  call  upon  you  to  set  aside  that  ecclesiastical  authority,  to 
break  the  shackles  that  bind  your  minds  down,  and  forbid  you  to  tread  in 
the  paths  of  mental  freedom.  The  resolution  involves  this :  That  if  a 
Church,  or  a  priesthood,  or  a  God,  shall  be  taught  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
sustain  slavery,  whether  of  the  body  or  mind,  you  are  to  reject  it ;  and  I  call 
upon  you  to  reject  the  ecclesiastical  God,  that  binds  men  in  mental  slavery, 
as  well  as  in  bodily  slavery,  that  their  chains  may  be  broken,  and  that  you 
and  I  may  engage  in  the  great  work  of  reform.  If  the  ministers  would 
take  hold  of  this,  if  the  mental  freedom  was  enjoyed  that  should  be,  in  every 
town,  and  city,  and  State  in  our  land,  what  an  impetus  would  be  given  to 
every  moral  reform  movement !  Then  you  would  see  light  breaking  like  a 
clear  summer's  morning,  then  would  this  whole  country  present  before  the 
world  the  spectacle  of  a  tabernacle  of  righteousness  and  truth,  and  of  the 
progress  of  liberty,  such  as  the  world  has  never  seen,  and  which  these  re- 
form movements  are  all  adapted  to  bring  about.  Yes,  my  friends,  if  you 
will  unite  in  these  efforts  for  mental  freedom,  and  for  the  spread  of  the  great 
truths  that  are  connected  with  human  happiness,  in  all  the  relations  of  life, 
you  will  have  obeyed  the  true  God  of  the  Universe,  and  of  your  nature. 

Miles  Grant,  of  Boston,  spoke  to  the  third  resolution  of  the  regular 
series.  He  said: — My  friend  (Mr.  Storer)  who  spoke  in  favor  of  Spiritual- 
ism, says  Spiritualism  exists  —  consequently,  it  is  right.  Slavery  exists  — 
consequently,  it  is  right !  Will  he  stick  to  that  logic  ?  Sin  exists  —  conse- 
quently, sin  is  right !  Wrong  exists  —  consequently,  wrong  is  right  I 
[Laughter  and  applause.]     Is  that  sound  logic  ?     It  is  not  to  me. 

Allow  me  now  to  read  the  fifth  resolution  in  connection  with  this :  -^ 

Resolved,  That  the  only  true  and  natural  marriage  is  an  exclusive  conjugal  love  be- 
tween one  man  and  one  woman,  and  that  the  only  true  home  is  the  isolated  home,  based 
upon  this  exclusive  love. 

I  endorse  that.  I  was  delighted  with  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Tiffany  this 
morning,  but  there  were  others  who  took  exceptions  to  this  resolution,  and 
argued  against  it.  In  order  to  bring  the  matter  before  you,  I  will  read  an 
extract  from  some  remarks  made  by  a  lady  in  a  Convention  held  in  Ra- 
venna, Ohio,  July  4th  and  5th,  1857.  This  brings  the  point  directly  before  us, 
to  see  whether  Spiritualism  tends  rather  to  sensualism  or  to  purity.  She 
said,  "  To  confine  her  love  to  one  man  was  an  infringement  of  her  rights." 
If  I  understand  the  spirit  of  some  remarks  made  this  morning,  they  were 
similar  to  that.  "  Although  she  had  one  husband  in  Cleveland,  she  consid- 
ered herself  married  to  the  whole  human  race.  All  men  were  her  hus- 
bands, and  she  had  an  undying  love  for  them.  What  business  was  it  to  the 
world  whether  one  man  was  the  father  of  her  child,  or  ten  men  ?  "  Is  that 
"  tending  to  purity,"  Mr.  President  ?  "  She  had  the  right  to  say  who 
should  be  the  father  of  her  offspring." 


106  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

Mr.  Curtis.     Is  that  a  just  and  fair  report  ? 

Mr.  Grant.     I  have  the  report  from  the  best  authority. 

Mr.  Wright.  I  was  at  the  Convention,  and  heard  every  word  that  was 
said,  and  I  pronounce  that  report  a  miserable  caricature.  I  would  say, 
furthermore,  that  there  was  a  long  correspondence  in  the  Cleveland  papers 
on  the  subject,  in  which  the  lady  denied  all  these  extravagant  and  mon- 
strous statements. 

Mr.  Grant.     Does  the  report  give  a  wrong  impression  ? 

Mr.  Wright.     It  does. 

Mr.  Grant.  Very  well ;  then  drop  it.  I  will  read  a  resolution  which 
has  been  before  us  to-day :  — 

Resolved,  That  the  conviction  of  the  possibility  and  actuality  of  spirit  intercourse  is 
opposed  to  all  despotism,  impurity  and  sensuaHsm,  and  conduces  to  the  inauguration  of 
^e  only  authority  consistent  with  the  human  soul,  or  favorable  to  sound  morality. 

Allow  me  to  quote  from  Mr.  Joel  Tiffany.  He  says,  as  reported,  "  After 
all  our  investigations  for  seven  or  eight  years,  w^e  must  say,  that  we  have  as 
much  confidence  that  there  are  lying  spirits,  as  we  have  that  there  are 
spirits  at  all.  The  doctrines  they  teach  are  mostly  contradictory  and  ab- 
surd." I  wish  to  ask  if  this  is  in  keeping  with  the  assertion,  that  the  only 
genuine  authority  consistent  with  the  human  soul  comes  from  spirit  inter- 
course ?  Is  this,  sir,  our  only  authority  ?  "  There  are  those  who  have  be- 
come, and  are  becoming,  victims  to  a  sensual  philosophy,  (Mr.  Tiffany  may 
correct  me  if  he  never  said  it,)  under  the  influence  of  what  is  termed  Spir- 
itualism." "  Spiritualism,  in  a  very  large  class  of  minds,  tends  to  beget  a 
kind  of  moral  and  religious  Atheism."  Have  we  heard  any  thing  of  that 
kind  here  ?  Have  we  been  exhorted  to  cry  out  against  the  worship  of  the 
God  of  the  universe,  and  cry  him  down  ?  If  I  turn  to  the  old  book  called 
the  Bible,  somewhere  about  the  fourth  chapter  of  the  first  of  Timothy,  and 
the  first  and  second  verses,  I  read  —  "  Now  the  spirit  speaketh  expressly, 
that  in  the  latter  times,  some  shall  depart  from  the  faith,  giving  heed  to  se- 
ducing spirits,  and  doctrines  of  devils."  ..."  Forbidding  to  marry." 
[Loud  applause.] 

Horace  Seaver,  of  Boston.  If  I  am  not  out  of  order,  I  would  be 
pleased  to  make  a  few  remarks  on  the  first  resolution  :  — 

Resolved,  That  the  authority  of  each  individual  soul  is  absolute  and  final  in  deciding 
all  questions  as  to  what  is  true  or  false  in  principle,  or  right  or  wrong  in  practice  ;  there- 
fore, the  individual,  the  church  or  the  State  that  attempts  to  control  the  opinions  or  the 
practice  of  any  man  or  woman,  by  authority  or  power  outside  of  his  or  her  own  soul,  is 
guilty  of  a  flagrant  wrong. 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentleman, — There  is  a  principle  involved  in 
this  resolution  which  seems  to  me  to  lie  at  the  very  foundation,  and  which, 
in  fact,  is  the  corner-stone,  of  all  slavery,  political,  social,  and  mental.  It  is 
the  idea  of  authority,  whether  it  be  from  that  old  book  to  which  our  friend 
has  alluded,  whether  it  be  from  the  Church  or  the  State,  whether  it  be  from 
any  quarter  outside  of  one's  own  individual  consciousness.  That  is  the 
principle,  I  maintain,  that  is  at  the  foundation  of  all  the  slavery  we  see 
among  us  —  whether  it  be  the  slavery  of  the  politician,  or  of  the  Church, 
or  of  the  social  system.  When  a  man  reads,  in  the  old  book  our  friend  has 
referred  to,  that  the  chosen  people  of  the  Lord  may  buy  and  sell  bondmen ; 
when  he  reads  there  that  women  must  keep  silence  in  the  churches,  and  if 


AUTHORITY   VS.    CONVICTION.  107 

they  want  to  know  any  thing,  they  must  ask  their  husbands,  who  very  often, 
are  know-nothings  [laughter]  —  I  mean  literally,  not  in  a  political  sense 
[renewed  laughter]  —  what  wonder  is  it  that  we  have  negro  slavery  in  the 
South,  and  social  slavery  here  in  the  North  ? 

And,  by  the  way,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  mind  is  of  no  particular  sex. 
"We  believe  that  women  have  minds,  and  this  being  a  fact  beyond  dispute, 
as  you  have  seen  demonstrated  from  this  platform,  what  reason  is  there  to 
suppose  that  they  should  not  exercise  their  minds,  as  well  as  we  of  the  other 
sex?  When  there  is,  in  fact,  so  little  mind  exercised  in  this  community, 
there  is  no  danger,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  we  shall  have  too  much  mind ;  that, 
if  we  allow  the  ladies  to  express  their  opinions  freely,  as  you  have  heard 
them  most  beautifully  and  eloquently  expressed  from  this  platform  to- 
day, we  shall  have  too  much  knowledge  in  the  community.  It  cannot  be, 
therefore,  that  the  principle  which  subjects  them  to  social  inferiority  is  a 
correct  principle,  because  you  know  very  well,  without  my  telling  you  of  it, 
that  the  mother  forms  the  character  of  the  child,  and  that,  in  order  to  have 
intelligent  sons  and  daughters  in  the  community,  the  mothers  must  them- 
selves be  intelligent. 

Mr.  Chairman,  we  have  heard  considerable  said  to-day  in  regard  to  the 
slavery  at  the  South.  I  trust  nobody  here  wants  any  kind  of  slavery. 
This  is  not  the  place,  among  the  green  hills  of  Vermont,  where  Ethan  Al- 
len and  his  gallant  band  of  Green  Mountain  boys  struck  a  successful  blow 
for  liberty,  in  connection  with  the  men  of  Bunker  Hill,  —  this  is  not  the  place, 
I  say,  to  talk  of  any  thing  except  freedom,  —  freedom  for  all,  irrespective 
of  color,  sex,  or  creed.  But,  sir,  in  spite  of  all  the  associations  connected 
with  these  green  hills  by  which  we  are  surrounded ;  in  spite  of  all  the  pro- 
fessions of  the  American  people,  we  have,  to  this  day,  but  comparatively 
little  freedom,  and  the  battles  of  the  Revolution  have  accomplished  but  half 
their  mission,  until  we  are  mentally  as  well  as  politically  free.  We  have 
secured  some  political  freedom  —  I  mean  for  such  of  us  as  have  white  com- 
plexions, and  are  sound  in  the  faith ;  but  with  regard  to  mental  freedom,  we 
are  to  the  present  hour  almost  literally  in  bondage  to  this  potent  spell,  Au- 
thority.  Men  and  women  really  dare  not  think  for  themselves,  because 
they  are  fearful  of  some  book  or  some  church,  some  sect  or  some  creed, 
that  stands  in  the  way.  They  would  pass  in  the  community  for  "the  thing, 
the  simple  thing,  that  others  think,  and  not  their  honest,  independent  selves.'* 
We  want  men  and  women  who  can  do  their  own  thinking,  who  will  not  pin 
their  faith  on  the  sleeve  of  the  politician,  nor  of  the  minister,  but  will  take 
counsel  from  their  own  consciences,  regarding  that  as  the  superior  guide 
through  all  their  lives ;  saying,  with  the  great  poet,  — 

"  What  conscience  dictates  to  be  done, 
Or  bids  me  not  to  do, 
This  teach  me  more  than  hell  to  shun, 
That  more  than  heaven  pursue." 

But  see  how  it  is  now  in  the  community ;  see  how  it  is  in  regard  to  the 
class  to  which  I  belong.  I  am  one  of  those  "  unfortunate  "  people  (so  con- 
sidered) who  are  called  Infidels.  I  take  the  name  because  it  belongs 
to  me  ;  because  it  represents  the  opinions  I  honestly  entertain  ;  and  I 
contend  that  every  man  who  sincerely  and  honestly  entertains  any  opin- 
ion, and  expresses  his  views  courteously  and  civilly,  ought  never  to  be 
ashamed  of  that  opinion,  and  never  conceal  it.     We  have  a  right  to  think 


108  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

and  express  our  opinions  in  regard  to  religion,  as  well  as  to  every  other 
matter.  If  you,  for  instance,  are  Christians,  very  well.  Keep  your  own 
thoughts,  if  you  believe  they  are  correct  ones.  I  am  the  last  person  in  the 
world  who  would  throw  a  straw  in  your  path  to  deprive  you  of  any  of  your 
civil,  political,  and  social  rights  and  privileges.  But  I  contend  that  I  have 
the  same  right  to  be  an  Infidel  or  an  Atheist  that  another  man  has  to  be  a 
Christian.  If  it  is  contrary  to  the  Bible,  and  contrary  to  God,  let  him  see 
to  it,  in  his  own  way  and  time ;  but  it  does  not  belong  to  any  one  here  or 
anywhere  else,  to  tell  me  that  because  I  do  not  believe  in  rehgion,  I  am  to 
be  deprived  of  the  rights  and  privileges  of  other  human  beings.  I  contend 
that  to  be  a  man,  is  greater  than  to  be  a  Christian,  and  that  it  is  a  higher 
and  nobler  thing  to  stand  for  the  rights  of  humanity,  than  to  maintain  any 
creed  or  all  the  creeds  that  the  fertile  brains  of  theologians  ever  invented. 
[Applause.]  To  my  mind,  there  is  nothing  superior  to  humanity,  and  to  the 
rights  and  privileges  belonging  to  it.  I  claim  that  I  possess  the  same  rights 
as  those  who  believe  differently  from  myself;  and  so  far  as  "spirits"  have 
any  tendency  whatever  to  break  down  the  partition  walls  that  now  divide 
the  country  into  sects  ;  whatever  tendency  they  may  have  to  liberalize  the 
public  mind,  and  demolish  the  Dagon  of  superstition  and  priestcraft,  let 
them  come  forward,  whether  spirits  in  or  out  of  the  body,  and  help  us.  And 
if  there  are  spirits  in  the  other  world,  (/cannot  "call  spirits  from  the  vasty 
deep  "  —  if  I  could  I  would,  for  it  will  require  a  great  deal  of  help  to  break 
down  the  bigotry  and  intolerance  that  surround  us  on  every  hand,)  if  there 
be  spirits  existing  in  the  world  about  us  and  in  the  illimitable  world  above 
us,  let  us  have  their  aid,  for  we  want  all  we  can  obtain,  and  it  cannot  be 
given  in  a  better  cause  than  the  cause  of  humanity,  in  removing  the  bigotry 
and  intolerance  set  up  by  the  various  sects  throughout  the  community,  and 
establishing  this  great  and  true  doctrine  of  the  rights  and  privileges  of  all 
mankind.  Whenever  that  object  shall  be  accomplished,  ladies  and  gentle- 
men, we  shall  have  secured  the  freedom  we  need. 

Although  I  am  an  Infidel  myself,  I  have  no  fault  to  find  with  my  brother 
who  believes  in  Christianity,  who  believes  in  the  Bible,  and  believes  that  in 
the  future  he  is  to  be  happy.  There  is  so  little  happiness  in  this  world, 
that  I  have  no  objection  to  a  heaven  hereafter,  if  only  for  the  purpose  of  af- 
fording some  happiness  to  worthy  people  who,  in  this  world,  have  nothing 
but  misery  and  perdition.  Religion  has  made  of  this  world,  almost  literally, 
a  hell,  and  if  there  be  any  liberalism  that  can  make  a  heaven  for  any  por- 
tion of  humanity,  or  for  all  of  us,  I  have  no  objection  on  the  score  of  any 
misanthropic  views  I  have  in  relation  to  this  matter.  I  cannot  believe  it, 
yet  I  have  no  objection  to  any  one's  believing  it  who  can.  But  while  we 
live  in  this  world,  let  us  do  something  to  secure  a  heaven  on  earth ;  and  if 
we  can  have  a  heaven  here  to  go  to  heaven  from,  we  shall  be  sure  of  this,  at 
least ;  we  have  got  two  heavens,  and  so  we  have  a  double  advantage  over 
the  church,  which,  at  the  best,  can  give  lis  but  one.  And,  friends,  if  we  de- 
voted half  the  time,  patience  and  trouble  to  improve  this  earth  and  make  it 
a  place  of  happiness,  that  we  devote  to  the  church,  it  seems  to  me  that  we 
might  have  a  heaven  on  this  side  of  Jordan,  and  so  be  sure  of  that,  whether 
we  are  to  enjoy  one  on  the  other  side  or  not.  But,  however  that  may  be,  I 
have  no  fault  to  find  with  Spiritualists,  in  so  far  as  they  are  endeavoring  to 
liberalize  the  community ;  and  though  we  cannot  expect  all  men  and  women 
to  believe  alike,  yet  when  the  time  shall  come  that  the  people  of  this  commu- 
nity can  express  their  views  upon  religion  without  suffering  legal  and  social 
persecution  and  prosecution,  as  they  do  in  Boston  —  without  being  disfran- 


woman's  part  in  reform.  109 

chised  and  outlawed  on  account  of  their  religion,  perhaps  then  we  shall 
have  attained  to  as  much  perfection  as  is  possible  in  this  world,  and  the  Mil- 
lennium, about  which  so  much  is  said,  will  have  arrived. 

Mr.  Wright  then  moved  the  appointment  of  a  committee  of  three  on 
Finance ;  which  motion  was  carried,  and  the  President  announced  Messrs. 
John  Landon,  Newman  Weeks,  and  Thomas  Curtis,  as  the  committee. 

The  Convention  then  adjourned. 

EVENING    SESSION. 

The  Convention  was  called  to  order  at  seven  and  a  half  o'clock,  IIenrt 
C.  Wright  in  the  chair. 

After  a  song  by  the  Harmonial  Club,  George  Sennott,  Esq.,  of  Boston, 
delivered  the  following  address  :  — 

WOMAN'S   PART  IN  REFORM. 

For  many  hundred  years,  the  noblest  hearts  and  loftiest  intellects  of  man- 
kind lived  in  a  splendid  dream.  They  dreamed  that  among  the  hidden 
things  of  Nature  lay  a  substance  so  potent  and  benific,  as  to  charm  away 
poverty,  pain,  disease,  and  death  itself.  And  so,  for  ages,  the  purest  and 
wisest  of  mankind  deliberately  sacrificed  their  wealth,  their  health,  their 
liberty,  the  free  breath  of  heaven,  and  all  the  delights  of  life,  and  ad- 
visedly braved  the  rage  of  a  superstitious  rabble  and  the  jealousy  of  a 
vindictive  priesthood  and  the  power  of  an  irresponsible  despotism,  if  only 
they  might  wrest  from  Nature,  into  no  unworthy  hands,  that  mighty  secret 
that  would  relieve  the  suffering,  repress  the  wicked,  and  arm  the  good  man's 
hand  with  the  power  of  a  liberating  God. 

Like  them,  our  noblest  men  and  women  have  also  dreamed  a  glorious 
dream.  It  was  no  philosopher's  stone,  no  fabled  elixir  of  life,  they  sought  to 
wrest  from  Nature  ;  but  they  dreamed  that  in  the  infinite  beneficence  of  God 
a  living  idea,  prolific  with  benedictions,  existed,  which  could  arm  the  pure 
heart  with  power  to  heal  the  nations.  In  the  far  future  they  saw  its  divine 
forces  realizing  what  the  Prophet  beheld  from  the  Mount  of  Vision.  No 
shadow  of  slavery,  —  no  stain  of  war,  —  no  trace  of  intemperance,  or  vio- 
lence, or  fraud  —  but  they  beheld  the  green,  regenerate  earth  glow  in  the 
beams  of  the  millennial  sun,  and  on  its  broad  and  motherly  bosom  bearing 
the  sinless,  happy,  countless  tribes  of  man.  And  so,  at  an  early  day,  the 
noblest  souls  that  ever  breathed  American  air  deliberately  gave  up  public 
honors,  and  the  applause  of  men,  and  many  a  sweet  and  precious  social  tie, 
and  offered  their  fair  fame  to  the  slanderer's  tooth  that  was  broken  on  the 
name  of  Parker,  and  their  necks  to  the  rope  that  went  round  the  throat  of 
Garrison,  and  their  bodies  to  the  dungeon  that  broke  the  heart  of  Torrey,  — 
if  only  they  might  find  the  glorious  means  of  making  all  men  free  and 
happy. 

I  cannot  believe  that  God  made  such  men  and  women  in  vain.  I  cannot 
believe  that  such  glorious  hopes  are  never  to  be  realized.  I  do  not  believe 
that  social  evil  is  eternal  and  incurable.  And  in  the  freedom  of  woman  — 
that  last  and  best  development  of  your  reforming  ideas  —  I  behold  the  long- 
looked-for  means  of  regenerating  man.  It  harmonizes  with  all  your  other 
plans  ;  it  disagrees  with  none ;  it  promises  more  immediate  practical  benefit 
than  any ;  it  is  the  point  where,  after  marching  bravely  through  the  whole 
rugged  land  of  reforming  effort,  and  from  experiment  to  failure,  and  from 


110  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

failure  to  victory,  you  first  behold  the  rosy  light  of  the  "good  time  coming" 
tinging  the  frozen  summits  of  Conservatism's  zm-Delectable  mountains. 

There  are  five  different  manifestations  of  human  selfishness,  which  cause 
about  five-sixths  of  all  human  misery  as  directly  as  fire  causes  a  burn.  It 
is  against  those  manifestations  that  all  reforming  effort  must,  of  necessity,  be 
directed.  Those  who  ask  you  to  begin  reform  by  extirpating  selfishness  in 
the  individual,  often  figure  social  evil  as  a  tree,  of  which  individual  sel- 
fishness is  the  root ;  and  they  ask  you  triumphantly  why  you  do  not  begin 
at  the  root  instead  of  cutting  at  the  branches.  They  are  misled  by  their 
comparison,  which  they  mistake  for  an  argument.  Social  evil  is  not  like  an 
ordinary  tree.  It  is  more  like  the  Indian  fig  tree,  of  which  every  branch, 
turning  away  from  the  light  of  heaven,  becomes  a  root  itself,  and  spreads 
darkness  over  the  land  from  its  own  independent  vitality.  Each  demands 
the  axe  for  itself.  The  five  different  manifestations  of  selfishness  are :  — 
First,  National  Selfishness,  which  destroys  man  in  the  state ;  second,  Eccle- 
siastical Selfishness,  which  destroys  man  in  the  church ;  third.  Commercial 
Selfishness,  which  destroys  man  in  the  community ;  fourth,  Social  Sefish- 
ness,  which  touches  that  of  the  nation  on  one  hand,  and  that  of  commerce 
on  the  other,  binding  iniquity  to  iniquity  ;  and,  fifth.  Domestic  Selfishness, 
which  destroys  man  in  his  family  —  the  worst  and  frightfullest  destruction 
of  all.  Of  individual  selfishness  I  shall  say  no  more  than  this,  I  never  ex- 
pect any  reforming  effort  from  a  person  whom  it  taints. 

And  first,  our  reformers  looked  at  the  selfishness  that  rules  the  State  ; 
that  makes  the  strong  nation  steal  its  feeble  neighbors'  land  and  murder  its 
poor  people,  and  justifies  the  villainy  under  the  name  of  war.  And  they 
cried  out  against  war  through  all  the  peace  societies,  and  in  great  peace 
conventions,  which  did  not  prevent  the  countless  murders  at  Sebastopol ;  no, 
nor  even  the  infinitely  small  pretence  of  a  desire  to  commit  murder  at  the 
Clifton  House.  But  the  work  was  not  thrown  away  after  all;  and  an 
administration  which  abandons  the  principles  of  Thomas  Jeff'erson  to  do  the 
deeds  of  William  Walker,  which  turns  its  back  on  the  majestic  wisdom  of 
Jackson,  and  the  unbending  patriotism  of  Benton,  to  follow  the  despotic 
instincts  of  a  renegade  in  politics,  a  charlatan  in  statesmanship,  a  cuistre, 
in  literature,  ready  to  "  crush  out "  all  who  feel  a  just  contempt  for  him ; 
an  administration,  I  say,  willing  under  such  guides  to  go  to  war  in  Cuba  or 
Nicaragua  for  the  extension  of  slavery,  or  on  the  ocean  for  the  defence  of 
the  slave  trade,  is  held  back,  gnashing  its  teeth,  by  an  influence  it  can  neither 
resist  nor  comprehend.  William  Lloyd  Garrison  and  his  noble  associates 
understand  it.  They  watched  its  silent  influx  more  than  twenty  years  ago. 
And  men  in  high  station,  though  they  have  not  nice  culture  of  mind  to  see  the 
absurdity  of  duelling,  nor  fine  sensibility  of  conscience  to  feel  its  wickedness, 
have  yet  regard  enough  for  that  strong  influence  to  refuse  to  fight  a  duel. 
I  wish  they  had  also  good  manners  enough  not  to  provoke  one ;  but  I  sup- 
pose we  must  not  expect  too  much  from  a  male  member  of  Congress.  This 
is  a  great  advance  in  twenty  years. 

Then  they  looked  upon  the  Selfishness  that  rules  the  Church  ;  not  the  Chris- 
tian world ;  not  the  body  of  Christian  believers,  but  the  small  organizations 
that  infest  both  ;  and  they  despised  the  narrow  spirit  and  feeble  understand- 
ing that  dreamed  it  had  shut  up  the  great  river  of  the  water  of  life  in  its 
poor  little  Orthodox  pitcher;  that  profanely  transforms  the  God  of  the 
Universe  into  a  jealous  spy  upon  an  omnipotent  devil ;  that  foolishly  re- 
quires a  modern  Yankee  to  abandon  his  culture  and  his  common  sense,  and 
to  convert  his  soul  into  a  cai-icature  of  that  of  some  ancient  Jew ;  that 


woman's  part  in  reform.  Ill 

wickedly  undertakes  to  make  science  lie  in  order  to  agree  with  Moses,  and 
will  not  let  a  scholar  draw  a  free  breath  in  a  church  lest  the  expansion  shake 
the  ricketty  scaffolding  of  its  theology.  They  felt  in  their  souls,  they  saw 
in  their  intellects,  that  Christianity  was  sense,  not  nonsense,  and  that  the 
word  of  God  was  too  sacred  to  be  submitted  to  the  patching  of  a  small  Andover 
tinker ;  that  the  Father  offered  his  children  love  and  life,  not  a  body  of 
divinity,  and  expected  cheerful  hearts  and  good  works  rather  than  long  faces 
and  a  knowledge  of  the  catechism.  Then  they  were  disgusted  with  the 
meanness  that  coaxes  the  pennies  out  of  baby  hands,  nominally  to  convert 
the  distant  heathen  into  Christians,  —  really  to  convert  nominal  Christians 
into  sanctimonious  swine  in  a  costly  sty,  called  a  Mission  House,  and  be- 
hind the  convenient  screen  of  a  Missionary  Board.  They  saw  and  loathed 
the  selfishness  that  makes  one  doctor  of  divinity,  a  man  of  large  talent  and 
little  heart,  shut  himself  up  and  thank  God  —  "  liis  "  God  —  that  he  takes  no 
interest  in  any  of  the  moral  questions  of  the  day ;  that  makes  another  take 
a  South-side  view  of  robbery,  lust,  and  murder ;  that  makes  another  willing 
to  send  his  mother  back  to  slavery,  and  inspires  him  with  the  happy  idea  of 
refusing  his  benediction  to  a  peace  meeting  in  a  Christian  church  in  Boston 
during  anniversary  week,  and  saving  it  to  refrigerate  his  own  parishioners; 
that  hurries  laymen  up  from  striking  the  balance  sheet  of  a  cargo  of  coo- 
lies to  a  place  on  the  anxious  seat,  and  sends  them,  hot  from  trying  to 
cheat  men  on  'Change  to  trying  to  cheat  God  in  a  business  men's  prayer- 
meeting.  They  looked  on  this  ecclesiastical  selfishness  and  loathed  it,  and 
came  out  of  the  churches,  leaving  little  Christianity  behind  them.  It  is 
true  that  ihey  thus  deformed  the  church,  but  they  certainly  helped  to  reform 
the  world.  See  what  good  they  have  done  in  this  community.  Twenty  years 
ago,  a  "  come-outer  "  was  a  name  to  hoot  at  —  a  singularity  ;  now  they  hold 
conventions.  Then,  only  a  man  like  Pierpont  spoke  against  slavery  and 
drunkenness,  to  the  horror  of  hearers  whose  views  of  life  were  usually 
taken  through  the  bottom  of  the  tumbler.  Now,  you  can  get  three  thousand 
ministers  to  sign  anti-slavery  documents  or  temperance  memorials,  or  even 
to  advocate  a  foolish  liquor  law,  as  if  men  could  be  forced  to  be  good. 
Then,  clergymen  like  the  Rev.  Nehemiah  Adams  were  the  rule.  Now,  it  is 
the  exceptional  clergyman  who  consistently  takes  a  South-side  view  of 
slavery,  and  a  hell-side  view  of  God.  They  have  so  liberalized  and 
Spiritualized  the  churches,  that  an  old-fashioned  revival  is  possible  only 
during  a  money  crisis,  and  while  business  is  flat.  And  thousands  of  young 
men  and  women,  liberated  by  their  precept  and  example  from  the  shackles 
of  iron  creeds,  that  prevented  a  good  life  and  choked  out  holy  thoughts,  are 
rising  up  all  over  the  land  to  live  the  higher  life  and  to  call  them  blessed. 

Next  they  looked  at  the  Selfishness  of  Commerce^  that  whitens  the  ocean 
floor  with  the  bones  of  slaves  ;  that  grinds  up  a  thousand  English  cottages 
to  make  one  Manchester  mill ;  that  keeps  a  thousand  girls  down  to  the 
starving  point  to  feed  one  Lowell  factory  ;  that  fills  our  houses  of  correction 
with  petty  thieves  who  steal  a  coat,  and  throws  the  dazzling  fence  of  legal 
subtlety  aiound  the  great  thief  who  steals  a  million,  and  hardly  abandons 
him  even  after  he  robs  the  mail ;  that  makes  his  fellow-swindlers  buy 
up  God's  harvest  for  a  lying  promise,  and  so  grow  richer  by  exploitering 
and  pauperizing  all  around  them  ;  that  drives  M^oman  from  the  trades  and 
professions  to  the  needle,  and  from  the  needle  to  the  street ;  that  poisons 
the  old  woman's  cup  of  tea  ;  that  poisons  the  laborer's  rum,  —  as  if  it  needed 
poisoning ;  that  poisons  the  sick  mother  with  adulterated  medicine  —  aye, 
and  the  little  baby  that  can  hardly  swallow,  with  its  devil's  milk.     And  our 


112  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

noble  men  and  women  did  their  duty  here  also,  and  organized  Protective 
Unions  against  it,  and  Equitable  Stores,  and  experimental  Phalansteries,  and 
other  feeble  defences,  which  did  not  amount  to  much.  And  when  famine's 
hand  fell  heavily  on  its  victims  in  another  land,  they  filled  great  war  ships 
with  provisions,  and  sent  them  on  strange  errands  of  peace  and  mercy,  sav- 
ing many  souls  alive.  There  were  other  steps,  though  short  ones,  in  the 
right  direction,  and  they  left  their  traces.  We  have  had  our  last  great 
money  panic.  Taking  all  things  together,  there  was  more  integrity,  which 
is  mercantile  honor,  exhibited  last  fall  and  winter,  than  was  ever  known 
before  in  other  panics.  There  were  a  few  great  swindlers,  who  stole  largely 
and  ruined  many ;  but  the  great  mass  remain  sounder  and  honester  than 
ever  before. 

Then  they  looked  at  the  Social  Selfishness,  stronger  than  all  the  rest,  which 
keeps  every  sixth  person  in  Democratic  America  permanently  barbarized. 
That  they  hated,  and  struggled  heroically  against  it  for  more  than  twenty  years 
in  the  anti-slavery  societies.  With  these,  they  have  so  revolutionized  the 
public  mind,  that  it  is  almost  possible  to  talk  common  sense  and  justice  in  the 
extreme  North  without  being  lynched  therefor.  And  though  slavery  still 
subsists,  and  is  apparently  stronger,  I  think  it  is  only  in  appearance.  I  feel 
that  it  has  but  a  short  lease.  The  saintly  women  and  martyr  men  of  this 
Protestant  litany  have  cloven  down  a  thousand  companion  evils  around  it. 
They  have  set  the  world  on  fire  from  the  fervency  of  their  own  free 
spirit,  and  guide  and  control  every  moral  enterprise,  wheeling  them  all  into 
the  battle  lines  of  freedom ! 

Lastly,  they  looked  upon  the  Selfishness  that  rules  the  Family,  —  domestic 
selfishness,  —  and  found  it  the  mother  and  nurse  of  every  social  sin.  True, 
they  did  not  find  woman  exactly  a  slave  under  its  influence.  In  all  this 
country,  only  a  few  thousand  Pennsylvania  German  women,  of  a  low  breed, 
are  made  to  follow  the  plough,  and  shovel  manure  for  their  husbands  ;  and 
not  one  of  them  is  yoked  up  with  the  cow  to  draw  the  cart,  as  once  in  France. 
No  New  England  woman,  that  I  know  of,  is  forced  to  pick  up  the  filth  of  the 
streets  like  her  Liverpool  sister,  or  to  hoe  the  corn,  or  bring  home  the  fire- 
wood on  her  back.  No  daughter  of  a  white  American  mother  is  laid  in 
wait  for,  knocked  senseless  and  dragged  to  her  future  home  by  her  lover, 
like  the  girls  of  Australia.  But  it  comes  after  all  to  about  the  same  thing. 
It  certainly  is  not  because  a  woman  is  free  that  she  is  taught  from  babyhood 
that  all  God  made  her  for  was  to  be  an  appendage  to  some  man.  And 
when  she  believes  what  she  has  been  so  carefully  taught,  and  feels  that  she 
must  be  married  at  any  rate,  it  cannot  be  her  independent  condition  that 
compels  her  to  conceal  her  affection  from  the  man  she  wants,  and  to  take 
the  man  that  asks  her.  If  women,  no  matter  how  it  happens,  are  compelled 
to  choose  between  any  sort  of  marriage  and  neglect,  or  even  starvation, 
what  difference  is  there,  in  principle,  between  that  sort  of  compulsion,  and 
knocking  her  down  with  a  club  ?  Surely,  none  at  all.  The  Australian 
savage  courts  with  a  club  and  applies  his  violence  to  the  body ;  the  civi- 
lized egotist  courts  with  his  purse,  and  applies  the  violence  to  the  mind. 
The  result  is  precisely  the  same — a  hated  marriage-bed,  and  an  unwelcome, 
inharmonious  offspring,  to  plague  the  world  with  physical  and  moral  mala- 
dies. 

Here,  while  considering  Domestic  Selfishness,  at  once  arises  the  true 
method  and  universal  means  of  hastening  all  reforms.  Here  you  for  the 
first  time  lay  healing  hands  upon  the  great  sympathetic  nerve  of  society. 
It  is  the  family  that  originates  and  shapes  the  individual,  not  the  indi- 


WO^IAN's    part    IX    REFORM.  113 

vidual  the  family.  The  Social,  Ecclesiastical,  and  National  condition  take 
existence  and  form  from  that ;  and  the  wonderful  spectacle  of  one  half  the 
human  race,  bound  where  they  should  be  freest,  and  unable  to  help  them- 
selves or  the  other  half,  forces  upon  the  mind  the  whole  subject  of  the  rights 
of  woman  —  aye,  and  of  the  wrongs  of  man,  resulting  from  her  false  posi- 
tion to  him.  Give  me  the  family,  and  you  may  have  the  State  and  the 
Church,  if  you  want  them.  Here  you  will  find  the  ideas  and  the  instru- 
ments, the  direction  and  point  of  departure  for  every  plan  through  which 
this  world  may  grow. 

Now,  the  part  which  women  will  take  in  reforms  depends  entirely  upon 
their  freedom.  Let  them  be  dependent,  as  they  are,  and  you  will  jog  on  as 
you  do,  and  grow  old  in  ti-yhig  to  do  and  to  be.  But  turn  your  energies  for 
only  six  months  to  getting  them  their  freedom  in  one  State,  and  I  do  hon- 
estly believe  that  more  will  be  done  in  the  ten  years  next  thereafter  than 
has  been  done  for  the  fifty  years  last  past.  The  very  first  thing  it  will  do, 
whenever  it  is  tried,  will  be  instantaneously  to  double  the  force  and  halve 
the  time  by  which  social  evil  is  to  be  killed. 

To  illustrate  clearly  what  I  mean  by  this,  let  us  suppose  a  case.  Let  us 
suppose  that  a  race  of  men  existed  who  believed  as  an  article  of  faith  and. 
practice,  that  one  whole  side  of  the  human  body  ought  to  be  tied  up  in  a  bag  for- 
life.  Let  us  suppose  that  the  tying  up  commenced  at  the  age  of  fourteen, 
that  the  habit  of  moving  on  one  leg  was  confirmed  at  the  age  of  twenty,  and 
that  from  the  twentieth  year  to  their  last  day  not  one  of  them  could  move 
easily  without  the  aid  of  a  companion.  Can  there  be  a  doubt  that  the 
strength  of  the  whole  body  would  decay  ?  Is  it  not  clear  that  such  a  race 
of  madmen  would  extinguish  more  than  half  their  natural  forces  ?  If,^  now, 
a  few  persons  had  bravely  determined  to  bear  the  constraint  no  longer,  and' 
had  freed  themselves  from  the  binding,  can  there  be  any  doubt  that  their 
example  would  be  universally  followed?  And  if  those  who  had  learned  to 
walk  took  compassion  on  the  rest,  and  held  conventions  in  every  town  to 
persuade  them,  and  hired  pedestrians  and  trainers  to  carry  them  on,  what 
would  be  thought  of  the  men  who  should  try  to  prevent  that  ?  What  would' 
be  said  to  the  fools,  if  any  were  found,  who  should  say  that  walking  was 
of  no  use  ;  that  a  man  could  get  on  just  as  well,  and  be  just  as  happy  and' 
respectable  if  he  never  walked  at  all ;  that  learning  it  merely  made  men 
unsteady  ;  that  if  every  one  learned  to  walk,  no  one  would  stay  at  home, 
but  would  break  up  the  old  hobbling  home  circle,  and  spend  all  their  time 
walking  about  with  strangers ;  that  God  and  Nature  had  made  the  right 
leg  stronger  than  the  left ;  and  that  it  was  flying  in  the  face  of  Providence 
to  try  and  make  one  as  strong  as  the  other ;  that  hobbling  was  a  good  old 
institution,  at  the  foundation  of  social  order,  and  that  if  walking  were  indis- 
criminately taught,  one  side  would  run  away  with  the  other,  and  throw 
both  the  human  body  and  the  body  politic,  into  indescribable  confusion  ? 
Now,  all  the  objections  I  ever  heard  against  the  freedom  of  woman  are  just 
as  sensible  as  these  against  locomotion,  and  sound  exactly  like  them.  I  am: 
sure,  I  do  not  propose  to  answer  them.  I  take  it  for  granted  that  women 
ought  to  be  free.  If  "  all  men  "  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  does 
not  mean  "  all  women,"  too,  the  law  books  have  always  been  wrong.  Law- 
yers have  a  set  of  rules  for  the  construction  of  statutes,  I  believe,  one  of 
which,  I  am  informed,  is  that  every  word  importing  the  masculine  gender 
only,  may  be  applied  to  females  as  well  as  males.  And  surely,  no  one  will 
think  of  applying  any  narrower  rule  than  that  to  a  thing  so  much  broader 
than  a  statute  as  is  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  All  mankind,  there- 
8 


114  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

fore,  are  born  equal.  It  is  a  self-evident  truth.  It  asks  no  aid  from  argu- 
ment, and  I  should  as  soon  undertake  to  prove  by  argument  that  all  man- 
kind are  born.  The  benefits  of  the  example  of  one  State,  for  one  year, 
would  sweep  all  objections  away  forever,  and  some  of  the  objectors  along 
with  them.  All  men  would  then  see  what  they  are  now  so  strangely  blinded 
to,  namely,  that  woman  is  to  man  what  one  side  is  to  the  other  ;  that  when 
he  hampers  her,  he  ties  himself,  when  he  vexes  her,  he  injures  himself;  that 
they  cannot  progress  independently,  but  whether  they  hobble  or  run,  they 
must  go  on  together.  Woman's  equal  right  to  freedom  with  man,  is  the 
simplest,  justest  thing  in  nature,  and  when  it  is  obtained  for  one  community, 
all  the  rest  will  wonder  that  they  ever  were  so  foolish  as  not  to  liberate  one 
of  the  forces  of  nature  to  do  their  work  for  them. 

There  are  some  rights  which  women  can  take,  if  they  choose.  In  science, 
in  literature,  in  theology,  in  art,  and  in  business,  they  can  take  high  places 
if  they  choose  to  try.  The  women  who  are  afraid  to  try,  must  be  let  alone  until 
they  acquire  courage.  But  there  is  one  right  which  woman  must  be  helped 
to  ;  and  that  is  the  right  to  vote.  I  cannot  speak  of  all  the  consequences 
which  will  spring  inevitably  from  their  acquisition  of  equal  political  power 
with  man.  The  subject  is  boundless,  and  my  time  is  limited.  I  shall,  there- 
fore, arbitrarily  select  three  things  that  will  certainly  be  done ;  the  doing 
of  any  one  of  which  will  mark  this  century  illustrious  to  all  coming  ages. 
These  are,  1st,  Putting  justice  into  the  law  ;  2d,  The  establishment  of  true 
marriage  ;  3d,  The  abolition  of  prostitution  —  an  ugly  word,  which  I  shall 
use  but  once. 

Justice  will  be  put  into  the  law  in  consequence  of  a  new  theory  of  crime. 
We  make  our  amendments  now  after  one  theory,  while  our  law  is  founded 
on  another.  It  is  sometimes  asked,  with  great  simplicity,  why  law  should 
hang  a  man,  if  its  object  is  to  reform  offenders  ?  Now,  the  present  system 
of  law  has  no  such  object.  There  is  only  here  and  there  a  statute  in  the 
vast  heap  —  stuck  in  like  a  cut  flower  in  a  pile  of  pig  iron,  not  growing  in 
—  which  contemplates  reform  even  by  implication.  The  whole  system  is 
consistent  enough  with  itself,  and  with  the  barbarian  instincts  of  its  founders. 
It  does  not  intend  reform  —  it  intends  revenge  ;  and  cries  out  for  blood  in 
savage  old  Saxon  speech.  Conscientious  jurors  make  a  choice  of  evils,  and 
commit  perjury  rather  than  murder.  We  have  grown  vastly  more  humane 
than  our  laws.  But  women  will  serve  on  juries  by  and  by,  —  indeed,  they 
might  noiv,  for  all  the  law  there  is  against  it,  if  they  would  get  their  names 
on  the  list.  By  and  by  they  will  sit  in  the  Legislature  ;  even  now,  though 
-they  cannot  vote,  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  their  being  voted  in. 

When  that  time  comes,  do  you  think  that  men  will  j)ine  away  in  jail  for 
'Costs  they  could  not  pay  if  they  were  out  ?  Do  you  believe  that  men  and 
^women  who  know  the  name  of  God  only  to  swear  by,  who  were  brought 
up  to  be  thieves,  and  taught  to  steal  as  other  children  are  taught  to  read, 
will  be  flxstened  in  solitary  chambers,  and  starved  and  whi[)ped  like  dogs  in- 
to submission  ?  Do  you  think  that  no  discrimination  will  be  made  between 
the  poverty-stricken  wretch  whom  hunger  impels  to  steal,  and  the  moral 
idiot  who  thinks  crime  is  good,  and  the  deliberate  villain  who  sins  against 
his  breeding  and  his  judgment,  and  makes  selfishness  his  only  rule  ?  I  do  not. 
The  law  will  not  be  patched,  merely.  Its  principle  will  be  altered.  It  will 
be  changed  from  Vengeajice  to  Justice ;  and  then  our  kind  amendments  will 
not  fit,  as  they  do  now,  like  hands  of  flesh  to  wrists  of  wood.  We  shall  have 
asylums,  not  jails  ;  houses  of  reformation,  instead  of  houses  of  correction ; 
hospitals  for  incurables,    instead  of  State  prisons    for  life ;  and  this    will 


woman's  part  in  reform.  115 

certainly  be  a  very  striking  benefit  to  man ;  for  in  the  criminal  lists,  the  men 
outnumber  the  women,  five  to  one. 

There  is  another  principle  of  the  law,  of  very  great  importance,  which 
will  be  revised,  I  think.  It  is  the  principle,  that  by  marriage  the  wife's 
identity  is  lost  in  that  of  the  husband.  The  consequences  are  very  moment- 
ous, and  meet  you  at  every  turn.  Nothing  short  of  its  entire  excision  will 
do -you  the  slightest  service.  All  your  homestead  laws  and  separate  estate 
statutes  amount  to  nothing.  Just  where  you  least  expect  it,  and  always 
where  it  will  hurt  you  most,  the  inexorable  principle  steps  in  and  kicks  your 
poor  exception  out  of  doors.  When  that  principle  is  abolished,  I  do  not  be- 
lieve an  idle  brute  could  take  away  the  earnings  of  his  industrious  wife  and 
spend  them  on  vile  companions.  I  have  known  such  cases.  I  know  two 
such  cases  now.  I  do  not  think  a  man  could  get  drunk  every  day  for  three 
years,  and  force  a  wretched  creature  to  live  with  him,  when  her  soul  loathed 
him.  I  know  of  such  cases.  I  do  not  think  an  angelic  woman  —  a  born 
Love,  an  incarnate  Use  and  Beauty  —  could  be  trampled  under  foot  by  a 
madman  for  twenty -one  months ;  starved,  neglected,  and  bereft,  till  she  was 
compelled  to  fly,  and  then,  in  the  very  morning  of  her  days  and  the  prime  of 
her  beauty,  forced  to  live  alone  for  ten  long  years,  until  the  tardy  law  re- 
lieved her.  Such  a  case  actually  happened  not  many  years  ago.  I  do  not 
think  a  woman,  after  working  for  twenty  years  to  build  up  a  living  for  her 
husband,  will  be  obliged  at  his  death  to  be  dependent  on  his  will,  or  else  put 
up  with  what  are  facetiously  called  her  thirds,  or  deprived  of  the  guardian- 
ship of  her  own  children,  if  she  choose  to  marry  again. 

Next  will  follow  the  establishment  of  a  true  marriage.  The  freedom  of 
woman  will  redress  the  greatest  wrong  of  man  —  that  wrong  he  now  suffers 
in  his  relation  of  husband.  Until  he  fills  this  relation  with  one  wife,  and  in 
true  marriage,  he  is  a  male,  not  a  man.  This,  the  conjugal  union  of  one 
man  with  one  woman,  and  for  life,  is  the  most  sacred  of  all  human  rela- 
tions. There  is  no  other  so  sacred.  There  is  no  other  so  permanent, 
-There  is  no  other  so  important,  both  for  this  world  and  for  the  world  to 
come.  It  sweetens,  exalts  and  purifies  life ;  it  fills  with  the  light  of  hope 
and  love  the  hollow  eyes  of  death.  Tampering,  interfering,  ignorantly  med- 
dling with  this  relation,  is  the  curse  and  error  of  reforms.  Blindly  and 
rashly  entering  into  it,  stubbornly  refusing  to  allow  mistakes  in  it  to  be 
corrected,  is  the  curse  and  error  of  society.  In  a  free  society,  the  indepen- 
dent woman  will  see  to  it  that  real  marriage  will  be  the  rule,  and  sham,  or 
physical  marriage,  the  unfortunate  exception.  In  the  present  state  of  so- 
ciety, a  true  marriage  is  a  most  fortunate  accident.  Retbrmers  are  not  the 
only  ones  who  say  so.  Everybody,  every  day,  laments  the  rash,  unhappy 
couplings  which  constantly  take  place.  Everybody  feels  that,  under  our 
present  system,  man  grows  and  woman  decays.  He  has  an  elevated  charac- 
ter ;  he  has  a  forcible  intellect.  He  marries ;  his  wife  is  by  nature  as  forci- 
ble and  elevated  as  he ;  but  he  goes  into  the  world.  He  learns  in  the  con- 
flict of  his  fellows  to  know  and  care  for  the  great  principles  which  dignify 
life.  He  is  full  of  its  difficulties,  its  sympathies,  and  rewards.  She  cannot 
follow  her  husband  ;  it  is  indelicate  ;  it  is  improper ;  it  is  beyond  her  sphere. 
And  so  the  victim  of  cant  dwindles  her  soul  to  her  circumstances,  as  the  vast 
bulk  of  the  genii  in  the  Arabian  tale,  which  filled  the  sea  and  the  sky,  shrunk 
into  the  vial  of  Solomon.  Her  endowments,  naturally  equal  to  his,  become 
inferior.  She  is  reduced  to  a  secondary  place  in  his  mind,  if  not  in  his  af- 
fections, and  who  is  now  injured  ?  Why,  the  husband.  He  has  a  right 
to  have  one  side  of  his  soul  as   strong  and  as  noble  as  the  other.     Cant 


116  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

forbids  the  education  and  the  exercise  which  alone  can  make  it  so.  He 
dwindles  to  her  stature  as  she  dwindles  to  her  circumstances,  and  if  not, 
society,  more  cruel  than  the  ancient  Itahan  tyrant  who  bound  together  the 
living  and  the  dead,  first  strikes  his  other  self,  and  then  binds  him  for  hfe  to 
the  paralyzed  object  which  he  must  always  pity,  but  can  never  cure.  Un- 
der these  circumstances,  affection  dies.  It  dies,  and  the  man  dies  with  it. 
O  blind  and  stupid  world !  that  imagines  woman  may  dwindle,  and  man 
not  die  —  that  thinks  Josephine  may  be  made  little  of  and  put  away,  and 
Napoleon  not  perish  in  exile  !  When  shall  simple  justice  make  this  earth 
a  heaven  ?  Surely  as  the  Lord  liveth,  not  until  women  are  free,  and  mar- 
riage is  true. 

Permit  me  to  introduce  the  last  and  least  agreeable  division  of  my  sub- 
ject, by  telling  you  one  history  out  of  many  hundreds,  that  are  equally  true, 
but  which  you  will  never  know :  — 

About  four  years  ago,  a  bright,  handsome,  intelligent  girl,  a  farmer's 
daughter,  left  the  little  brown  homestead  in  the  heart  of  a  valley  in  Ver- 
mont, for  the  great  city.  She  was  hardly  eighteen,  and  the  eager  heart  of 
youth  wearied  of  the  solitary  mountains.  She  had  an  aunt  in  the  city,  mar- 
ried to  a  mechanic,  and  she  stopped  with  her.  After  two  or  three  weeks 
of  constant  searching,  she  obtained  work  in  a  shirt-store.  And  here  the 
strong,  healthy,  growing  young  woman,  used  to  >  exercise  in  the  mountain 
air,  was  shut  up  for  twelve  hours  a  day,  day  after  day,  in  a  dark,  ill-venti- 
lated, closely -heated  room,  with  a  dozen  otlier  girls.  Her  day  was  spent  in 
sewing,  trying  to  forget  that  she  had  the  headache,  and  trying  not  to  listen 
to  such  conversation  as  she  had  never  heard  before.  Her  nights  were 
passed  in  a  lonely  attic,  the  only  chamber  her  aunt  could  afford,  where  her 
rest  was  broken  by  the  disorders  of  a  poor  neighborhood.  It  was  long  be- 
fore she  earned  two  dollars  a  week,  and  then  she  was  five  or  six  weeks  be- 
hindhand on  her  board  bill.  The  clothes  she  had  brought  with  her  were 
old-fashioned,  and  caused  much  observation  and  some  sneers. 

At  length  her  aunt's  husband  lost  his  work,  the  narrow  means  of  the  poor 
household  became  still  narrower,  and  the  proud-spirited  girl,  unwilling  to  be 
a  burden,  left  them.  Her  scanty  wages  were  not  enough  to  support  life ; 
and  hard  work,  close  confinement,  insufficient  food  and  mental  anguish,  threw 
her  into  a  fever.  One  or  two  of  her  shop-mates  took  her  to  their  poor 
boarding-house,  and  ilursed  her  till  she  got  well.  Then  where  was  she  to 
go  ?  What  was  she  to  do  ?  She  could  get  no  work  ;  she  could  get  no 
credit.  She  had  not  the  means  to  return  home,  if  her  pride  did  not  prevent 
her ;  and  she  could  not  be  a  burden  to  the  two  poor  girls  who  had  already 
done  their  utmost. 

Well,  benevolent  men,  whose  shirt  collars  are  so  white  that  you  cannot  see 
the  tears  that  fell  among  the  stitches ;  well,  dear  ladies,  who  have  young 
daughters  you  love,  and  hope  to  see  happy  mothers,  that  daughter  took  the 
only  course  you  left  her. 

Five  months  thereafter,  those  fine  blue  eyes  looked  round  the  lofty  walls 
of  the  highest  criminal  court  in  the  great  city,  with  a  wild,  unutterable 
anguish  —  a  look  that  made  me  think  of  a  frightened  hare,  more  than  of 
a  human  creature.  There  was  no  other  woman's  face  in  all  that  crowded 
hall.  The  learned  judge  sat  on  his  lofty  bench  a  great  way  off.  Slie  saw 
nobody  but  him  —  silent,  cold ;  poor  man,  he  had  heard  many  dreadful  sto- 
ries that  day,  and  was  probably  thinking  of  his  dinner.  The  District  At- 
torney was  looking  up  the  statute  —  the  Law  —  that  was  to  choke  the  heart 
out  of  this  poor  abandoned  child.     The  lawyers  were  looking  over  their 


woman's  part  in  reform.  117 

papers,  and  the  crowd  was  gaping  as  it  always  gapes  when  a  woman  is  to 
be  tried.  The  clerk  asked  her  to  stand  up.  She  did  so  mechanically,  while 
he  read  in  the  clear,  monotonous  voice  of  long  habit,  the  awful  indictment 
of  which  neither  she  nor  any  of  the  mere  spectators  understood  one  word. 
At  last  the  reading  was  over ;  the  kind  constable  beside  her  spoke  for  the 
poor  distracted  creature,  and  said  she  pleaded  not  guilty.  It  was  not  true,  for 
she  said  nothing ;  but  may  the  innocent  falsehood  rest  lightly  on  the  good 
man's  soul!     He  has  two  little  daughters  of  his  own. 

"  Have  you  any  counsel  ?  "  rang  through  the  room,  in  the  clear,  dignified 
tones  of  the  presiding  judge. 

For  the  first  time  the  unhappy  girl  found  a  voice  ;  and  in  a  tone  of  an- 
guish that  shook  the  heart  said :  — 

"  Oh,  sir,  I  want  my  mother !     Let  me  go  home  to  my  mother !  " 

The  learned  judge  dropped  his  pen,  his  spectacles  suddenly  became  very 
dim,  and  wanted  a  great  deal  of  Aviping.  The  District  Attorney  fall  back 
into  his  seat  as  if  he  was  shot,  and  let  the  heavy  statute  book  fall  into  the 
paper  basket  at  his  feet.  The  impartial  jury  fidgetted  about  in  their  seats, 
and  one  or  two,  of  the  very  sternest  and  savagest  aspect  —  it  is  curious 
how  that  class  of  gentlemen  always  get  caught  just  so  —  were  very  busy 
pretending  to  wipe  their  noses,  looking  fiercely  round  the  while,  as  if  to 
knock  down  any  one  who  should  dare  to  think  they  were  crying. 

At  this  juncture,  greatly  to  the  relief  of  everybody,  a  young  lawyer  arose 
and  announced  himself  as  counsel  for  the  prisoner.  A  word  or  two  with 
her  brought  the  human  look  back  into  her  beautiful  eyes.  He  seized  the 
mysterious  "  indictment,"  and  perused  it  with  very  great  attention.  In  a 
few  moments  he  found  a  "  flaw  "  —  which  means,  as  I  am  informed,  that 
some  of  the  mysterious  and  incredible  gibberish  which  the  law  declares 
necessary  for  the  explanation  of  his  or  her  crimes,  to  every  man,  woman, 
and  child  over  seven  years,  had  been  accidentally  left  out  on  this  occasion, 
by  the  learned  gentleman  whose  duty  it  was  to  pile  it  together.  After 
a  lively  discussion  of  a  quarter  of  an  hour  or  so,  the  solemn  voice  of  the 
clerk  was  heard  saying  :  — 

"  Harriet  Lane,  the  court  order  that  you  be  discharged,  and  go  without 
day." 

She  immediately  fainted  away.  By  the  time  she  had  recovered  her 
senses,  the  court  was  adjourned,  and  the  two  savage-looking  gentlemen  were 
travelling  around  among  the  crowd,  making  everybody  give  them  a  dollar 
apiece.  Tlie  collection  —  no  small  one,  I  assure  you  —  was  tenderly  and 
delicately  placed  in  the  sick  child's  lap.  A  hand  of  the  size  and  color  of  a 
smoked  ham  gently  lifted  her  from  the  bench  into  a  carriage,  and  the 
fiercest  looking  of  the  gentlemen — he  was  the  foreman  —  took  her  home  to 
his  good  little  wife.  That  was  the  first  time  that  I  ever  understood  why 
Mrs.  Foreman  thought  her  husband  so  good  looking.  I  am  sure  I  perfectly 
agreed  with  her. 

Now,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  is  it  not  plain,  that  when  women  take  hold 
of  the  various  trades  and  professions  in  freedom  just  as  the  men  do,  such 
things  as  I  have  told  you  will  not  happen  quite  so  often.  Do  not  we  all 
see  what  fills  up  the  street  at  night,  with  sights  and  sounds  that  startle  even 
a  careless  man,  and  make  a  good  man  shudder  and  cry  ?  All  these  painted 
women  that  make  you  shiver  so,  dear  madam,  when  they  swear,  (for  they 
will  swear  when  they  get  drunk,  you  know)  —  all  of  them  were  happy  little 
girls  once,  just  like  sis,  the  pet.  But  they  had  nothing  to  do  then  or  after- 
wards.    It  was  not  thought  ladylike  to  do  any  thing  but  sew,  and  even  then 


118  THE    RUTLAND     CONVENTION. 

there  were  almost  two  sewers  to  one  spool  of  thread.  "  But  they  are  vile, 
unprincipled  creatures."  Are  they  ?  It  may  be  so,  but  fervently  do  I  hope 
that  none  of  our  dear  ones  will  ever  have  their  principles  put  to  the  starva- 
tion test.  Fine  principles  are  the  finest  things  in  the  world,  and  will  be 
always  in  beautiful  order,  if  you  are  never  obliged  to  try  them.  So  keep 
yourself  independent,  by  all  means  my  dear  lady.  Do  not  refuse  us  your 
good  word,  we  may  return  it  to  you  in  the  shape  of  a  piece  of  property, 
at  some  future  day.  You  have  a  bright-eyed  little  daughter  I  notice  ;  she 
is  very  busy,  active,  and  good  at  a  bargain  already.  She  will  make  an 
excellent  merchant,  if  you  only  let  her,  and  will  not  have  to  marry  for  a  liv- 
ing ;  a  thing  which  ought  to  shock  dreadfully  a  lady  of  your  rigid  principles. 
Your  husband  may  die,  you  know.  I  sincerely  hope  he  will  not,  but,  if  he 
should,  as  he  lives  on  his  salary  or  close  up  to  it,  what  would  you  do  in  the 
present  state  of  woman's  employment  ?  Ah  !  my  dear  madam,  there  is  not 
a  pair  of  eyes  in  all  that  infernal  choir,  just  screaming  round  the  corner 
from  which  the  thrice  accursed  street  was  not  as  distant  once,  as  it  is  now 
from  you ! 

Grave  people,  who  are  very  regular  in  their  lives,  and  who  have  always 
been  grave  and  regular,  have  great  and  just  weight  in  society,  in  conse- 
quence of  this  very  steadiness.  Their  observations  are  listened  to  with  a 
respect  which  is  derived,  not  from  the  justice  of  the  observation,  but  from 
the  respectability  of  the  speaker.  Now,  routine  of  any  kind  has  a  tendency 
to  make  even  a  keen  man  dulL  So  you  may  judge  what  work  it  will  make 
with  a  gentleman  who,  as  the  college  boy  said  of  his  stupid  chum,  is  good 
because  he  does  not  know  any  better.  They  appear  to  think,  sometimes,  that 
the  world  is  a  large  church,  where  everybody  behaves  with  the  utmost 
steadiness,  and  where  things  always  happen  just  as  you  expect  they  will. 
An  observation  made  by  such  a  person,  in  such  a  frame  of  mind,  may  do 
you  great  mischief,  if  you  believe  it,  because  it  is  not  unfrequently  pure 
trash.  Here  is  an  example  :  "  The  cause  of  Public  Vice  is  passion,  uncon- 
trolled by  principle."  Now,  this  is  a  sounding  phrase,  which  contains  one 
very  common-place  truth,  and  besides  that,  a  monstrous  lie.  For  though 
the  man's  crimes  do  spring  from  unprincipled  passion,  it  is  a  fact  as  well 
known  as  any  fact  can  be,  that  on  the  part  of  the  woman,  there  is  no  pas- 
sion whatever.  To  say  otherwise  is  a  libel.  Women  are  not  sensual ; 
they  abhor  sensuality,  and  when  they  become  independent,  it  will  be  one  of 
the  first  things  swept  away,  whether  in  marriage  or  out.  The  unfortunate 
women  who  are  the  traders  in  this  vice  abominate  it ;  they  are  driven  to  it 
by  necessity,  and  to  keep  from  starving ;  and  you  could  take  eight  thous- 
and out  of  the  ten  thousand  from  the  streets  of  New  York  to-morrow,  if 
you  would  only  assure  them  of  a  decent,  living  employment.  One  week  of 
woman's  freedom  to  choose  her  own  business,  will  do  more  to  kill  this  vice 
than  has  ever  been  done  before  in  a  century. 

Yes,  the  vice  of  cities  can  and  will  be  cured  —  but  not  by  moral  reform 
societies.  They  are  very  respectable  organizations,  and  do  much  good, 
but  you  will  see  them  check  public  vice  about  the  time  that  you  see  your- 
self reducing  the  flow  of  Niagara  with  a  large  and  very  bright  tin  pan. 
Niagara,  however,  can  be  reduced,  if  you  take  the  right  way  to  do  it.  Ter- 
rific as  it  is,  it  is  made  up  of  single  drops  of  water.  Seize  them  in  the 
quiet  valley  or  in  the  nooks  of  the  distant  mountain  ;  let  them  follow  every 
little  declivity  that  leads  to  the  lake ;  if  they  incline  toward  the  Mississippi 
when  they  start,  build  a  little  dam  across  their  track  and  make  them  go  the 
other  way ;  in  short,  force  them  out  of  every  other  channel    but  the  St. 


woman's  rights.  119 

Lawrence,  and  sure  as  death,  you  will  find  them  at  or  near  Niagara.  But 
take  the  pains  to  open  new  channels  for  them.  Do  not  force  them  all  into 
one.  Let  some  of  them  spread  out  into  pretty  domestic  lakes  of  beauty, 
and  some  marry  into  silver  streams  of  use,  and  your  great,  roaring,  ruinous 
fall  will  not  run  dry,  exactly,  but  your  lovely  drops  of  pure,  pellucid  dew 
will  not  all  of  them  dash  over  its  frightful  plunge,  to  be  churned  up  among 
its  filthy  foam. 

So  shall  our  Heaven-suggested  cause  reduce  this  murderous  social  fall, 
whose  every  dizzy  drop  is  a  once  innocent  human  soul ;  so  shall  independ- 
ent woman  open  for  her  sex  new  channels  of  happy,  harmonious  existence ; 
so  shall  her  lovely  innocence  grow  lovelier  still  in  the  clear  vales  of  plenty 
and  fertility  hollowed  out  by  her  unfettered  energies ;  so  shall  her  exquisite 
purity,  as  natural  to  her  soul  as  dew  to  violets,  grow  clearer  and  clearer  in 
the  streams  of  useful,  active,  united  life,  until,  spiritualized  by  the  fervent 
heat  of  the  Divine  sun,  she  rises  on  wings  of  Love,  into  celestial  radiance, 
and  adds  new  glories  to  her  native  heaven ! 

Another  song  was  sung  by  the  Harmonial  Club,  after  which  Mrs.  Mart 
Davis  addressed  the  Convention. 

ADDRESS  OF  MRS.  MARY  DAVIS. 

Friends,  —  I  cannot  forbear  saying  a  few  words  on  the  great  subject 
which  has  just  been  so  ably  presented  to  your  notice.  I  shall  detain  the 
audience  but  a  few  moments  with  what  I  have  to  say,  for  others  will  doubt- 
less follow  me  who  can  do  better  justice  to  this  theme.  This  subject  — 
Woman's  Rights,  Woman's  Influence,  Woman's  Mission,  in  this  world  of 
ours  —  is  one  which  more  particularly  claims  our  attention  just  at  this 
time,  than  any  other  that  could  be  presented  to  our  notice.  This  is  my 
opinion,  and  it  seems  to  me  it  must  be  the  opinion  of  all  who  thoughtfully 
consider  the  condition  and  the  needs  of  the  human  race.  Bold  words  have 
been  said  to  you  on  this  platform  on  this  subject ;  bold  words  will  yet  be 
said.  I  trust  all  who  listen  will  go  away  from  this  place  with  deeper 
thoughts  upon  their  minds  concerning  the  destinies  of  woman,  and,  through 
her,  the  destinies  of  the  human  race. 

It  is  thought  by  some,  perhaps,  who  are  present  here  to-night,  that 
woman  is  inferior  to  man ;  indeed,  I  believe  this  sentiment  has  practically 
been  expressed  before  you  on  this  platform.  I  need  not  argue  this  point. 
It  makes  no  difference  whether  woman  is  inferior  or  superior  to  man,  so  far 
as  her  rights  are  concerned.  If  woman  be  a.  human  being,  if  she  be 
adorned  with  those  qualities  that  distinguish  the  human  from  the  brute 
creation,  then  is  she  entitled  to  consideration  as  an  absolute  entity  —  an  in- 
dividual, responsible,  immortal  being.  But  it  is  better  to  have  one  fact,  one 
demonstration,  than  a  great  deal  of  speculation ;  therefore,  I  will  call  your 
attention  to  the  fact,  that  twenty-two  years  ago,  a  woman  came  from  across 
the  waters  to  this  our  land.  An  exile  from  a  foreign  clime,  she  came  with 
her  soul  burning  with  love  for  the  human  race,  and  with  all  the  disadvan- 
tages of  being  unacquainted  with  our  language,  with  all  the  disadvantages  of 
having  scarcely  any  acquaintances  in  this  new  land,  to  which  she  came  as  a 
stranger,  with  all  the  disadvantages  that  clustered  around  her  pathway  as  a 
reformer,  that  woman  stood  before  the  American  people  and  nobly  pro- 
claimed the  everlasting  Gospel  of  Freedom.  She  was  the  intimate  friend 
and  companion  of  that  noble  martyr  to  human  freedom,  Frances  Wright ; 


120  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION, 

she  joined  hands  with  that  brave  and  true-hearted  woman,  and  fought  the 
battle  of  humanity.  You  have  heard  from  that  woman  [Mrs.  P^.  L.  RoseJ 
to-day.  She  has  again  spoken  to  this  people  the  words  of  truth  ajid  freedom, 
and  noble  words  of  love  for  humanity.  She  is  not  the  only  one.  Another 
woman  I  know,  who  has  been  the  mother  of  eiglit  children.  That  woman 
has,  year  after  year,  struggled  through  all  the  disadvantages  that  crowd 
around  the  mothers  of  families  in  middle  life ;  that  woman,  holding  a  babe 
upon  her  arms,  has  written  noble  poems,  and  sent  them  out  to  the  world  ; 
that  woman,  standing  in  her  kitchen,  over  her  work,  has  written  "  thoughts 
that  breathe  and  words  that  burn, "  and  sent  them  forth  to  be  published, 
that  humanity  might  have  the  benefit  of  her  great  talents,  struggles  and 
labors ;  and  while  she  labored,  her  thoughts  have  flowed  into  songs,  which 
have  been  sung  by  many  who  delight  the  world  with  their  music.  That 
woman  [Mrs.  F.  D.  Gage]  has  spoken  to  you  to-day.  Aged  as  she  is,  she 
comes  as  the  noble  representative  of  Womanhood,  to  inspire  your  souls 
with  the  greatness  that  fills  her  own. 

With  such  women  before  you,  —  with  woman,  uneducated,  but  breasting 
all  obstacles,  and  carving  her  way  to  position,  fame,  and  influence,  and 
working  in  the  great  cause  of  humanity,  —  with  such  women  before  you,  is 
it  necessary  for  me  to  argue  this  point  to  this  intelligent  congregation  ?  I 
rejoice  that  this  audience  is  made  up,  in  great  part,  of  women.  There  are 
women  here  with  the  seal  of  intellect  upon  their  brow ;  there  are  women 
here  who  give  the  lie  to  that  insinuation  of  inferiority  on  their  very  faces. 
Women  !  be  encouraged !  Never  allow  yourselves  to  droop  under  any  such 
imputation  as  this.  Remember  that  you  have  souls  within  you  filled  with 
energies  and  powers  that  may  be  used  for  the  benefit  of  this  great  human 
race.  Remember  that  to  you  belongs,  more  than  to  all  the  world  besides, 
the  mission  and  the  power  to  enstamp  great  and  noble  thoughts  upon  our 
humanity.  I  rejoice  that  the  great  subject  of  marriage  has  been  introduced 
to-day  in  connection  with  that  of  woman's  rights,  and  also  that  the  impor- 
tant subject  of  maternity  has  been  presented  here  from  eloquent  lips ;  and  I 
would  beg  of  this  congregation  to  consider  well  each  of  these  questions,  that 
they  may  be  wiser  in  the  future.  I  ask  you,  with  such  examples  of  woman- 
hood before  you,  can  you  be  content  longer  to  allow  the  statutes  that 
degrade  woman  to  remain  upon  your  statute-books  ?  Those  statutes  have 
many  of  them  been  laid  before  you  to-day,  —  statutes  that  degrade  humani- 
ty, deform  woman,  belittle  her  nature,  dwarf  her  intellect,  and  destroy  her 
physical  vitality,  so  that  it  is  impossible  for  her  to  live  that  life,  noble,  pure, 
true  and  godlike,  that  nature  designed  her  to  live  on  earth,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  nature  she  is  to  impart  to  her  offspring. 

Remember  that  one  point,  the  remuneration  that  is  paid  to  woman,  which 
was  spoken  of  by  our  brother  and  friend  just  now.  Industrial  avocations 
are  all  closed,  or  nearly  all,  to  woman,  and  in  those  few  avenues  that  she 
has  access  to,  she  is  denied  that  remuneration  that  her  brother  receives  for 
the  same  kind  and  amount  of  labor.  What  said  our  brother  of  the  results 
of  such  niggardly  conduct  on  the  part  of  those  who  govern  society  ? 
Women  are  driven  into  the  low  haunts  of  vice,  which  disgrace  our  civiliza- 
tion. Woman,  in  her  noble  womanhood,  deprived  of  her  beauty,  deprived 
of  her  love  and  her  humanity,  she  who  was  once  bright  and  beautiful, 
worthy  to  be  taken  to  your  heart,  my  brother,  now  stands  at  the  corner  of 
the  streets,  with  the  oath  of  the  inebriate  upon  her  once  rich  and  ruby  lips. 
What  a  picture  is  this !  This  stain  and  this  crime  exist  in  our  civilization. 
Sisters !  think  of  it.     Brothers  I  labor  as  you  have  never  yet  labored  to  in- 


woman's  rights.  121 

duce  our  law-makers,  and  those  who  regulate  our  social  enactments,  which 
are  more  potent,  if  possible,  than  legislative  laws,  —  labor  to  induce  them  to 
raise  the  right  hand  in  defence  of  woman;  to  reward  her  for  her  industry, 
that  she  need  never  be  driven,  with  all  her  pure  and  womanly  instincts,  with 
all  her  capabilities  and  affections,  with  all  her  power  to  influence  the  human 
race,  for  good,  for  virtue,  for  happiness,  for  holiness,  —  that  she  may  never 
be  driven  into  such  sinks  of  degradation,  vice  and  crime.  Is  it  not  a  sight 
over  which  angels  might  weep  —  these  fallen  ones  of  our  humanity  ?  Shall 
they  not  be  rescued?  Shall  not  those  young  and  beautiful  women  who 
have  not  yet  fallen,  be  saved  from  so  terrible  a  ftite !  They  must  be. 
There  must  be  a  change  in  our  social  regulations,  so  that  our  beloved  and 
beautiful  ones,  our  daughters,  who  cluster  around  our  firesides,  and  lingef 
and  dwell  in  our  hearts,  shall  be  preserved  from  this  profanation  of  their 
holy  natures. 

Again,  woman,  as  was  also  said  by  our  brother,  is  driven  into  marriage 
by  this  same  system  of  social  despotism.  Driven  into  marriage.  Think  of 
that !  That  union,  which  should  be  the  holiest,  which  may  be  pure  and 
immaculate ;  that  union  which  may  be  cemented,  built  up,  during  all  the 
years  of  our  earthly  existence,  and  extended  into  those  beautiful  spheres 
beyond  the  grave,  —  that  blessed  union  is  sacrificed  to  this  unholy  God, 
Mammon;  that  union  is  degraded  and  polluted  by  the  fact,  that  woman 
is  driven  into  it  by  the  power  of  society,  —  driven  into  it  for  a  home, 
for  a  position,  when  the  only  true  basis  of  marriage  is  love.  Fathers ! 
mothers  !  teach  your  daughters  this,  that  if  they  marry,  they  must  marry  for 
love,  or  they  will  consign  themselves  to  a  perdition  that  will  be  unendurable. 
Teach  them  this,  and  then  train  their  hands  to  cleave  their  way  by  industry 
in  those  avocations  which  will  ensure  them  remuneration  ;  and  then  go  forth 
and  teach  society  that  they  must  be  remunerated. 

Look  at  those  avocations  in  which  woman  is  allowed  to  take  a  position. 
School  teaching !  This  is  the  profession  of  woman  ;  it  is  not  of  man.  Man 
uses  school  teaching  as  a  stepping-stone  to  something  higher  and  better, 
more  lucrative,  more  congenial ;  woman  is  condemned  to  this  avocation, 
whether  she  like  it  or  not,  or  has  been,  to  a  great  extent.  But  even  in  this, 
she  receives  not  more  than  one-thii-d  the  remuneration  that  is  received  by 
her  brother  for  doing  the  same  kind  and  amount  of  labor.  In  the  city  of 
Rochester,  a  few  years  since,  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools  recom- 
mended, in  his  report,  that  more  women  be  employed  in  the  public  schools, 
because  they  were  much  better  teachers  than  men,  and  could  he  obtained  a 
great  deal  cheaper !  Think  of  a  recommendation  like  that !  Woman  thus 
trampled  upon,  thus  robbed  of  her  own  natural  advantages  and  rights.  A 
report  advocating  the  expediency  of  employing  woman  in  the  public  schools, 
because  she  could  be  employed  cheaper,  and  yet  woidd  teach  better  than  men  ! 
Thus  it  is  throughout  society,  woman  is  driven  out  from  industrial  avocations, 
and  sent  adrift  upon  the  broad  world,  to  secure  to  herself  a  position  and 
education  as  best  she  may. 

Now,  in  regard  to  this  question  of  education,  woman  receives,  under  the 
best  circumstances,  not  one-half  the  training  that  man  receives,  in  the  higher 
seminaries  for  education.  Is  this  right?  Woman,  who  is  mother  of  the 
race,  who  is  to  produce  the  men  and  women  of  the  future,  she,  the  first 
teacher  of  the  young,  she,  the  one  who  makes  the  earliest  impress  upon 
the  moral  nature,  she,  who  needs  to  receive  the  best  training,  mental,  physi- 
cal, and  moral,  that  she  is  capable  of  receiving,  she  is  denied  even  the 
advantages  for  education  that  man  receives.     How  is  it  in  our  farming  dis- 


122  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

tricts  ?  How  is  it  with  our  farmers,  who  have  sons  and  daughters  to  edu- 
cate ?  The  sons,  of  course,  are  allowed  sufficient  pecuniary  assistance  to 
take  them  through  college ;  the  daughters  are  turned  off  with  a  few  shil- 
lings, to  cleave  their  way  as  best  they  may  to  the  scanty  education  they  can 
get  by  hard  labor,  by  working  for  their  board,  by  doing  all  sorts  of  menial 
labor,  and  then,  worn  out  in  body,  discouraged  in  spirit,  they  leave  these 
educational  institutions  to  take  upon  themselves  the  responsibilities  of  wives 
and  mothers.  What  mothers  are  these !  Can  you  recommend  them  as 
those  who  are  to  improve  the  next  generation  and  the  world  ?  This  must 
not  be.  Woman  must  be  educated  and  trained.  She  must  not  be  made  to 
think  that  she  is  going  to  get  married,  and  therefore  she  need  not  receive 
education.  This  has  been  the  error  all  through  our  farming  districts,  and  in 
our  cities.  Woman  has  been  taught  to  think  that  because  she  is  going  to 
get  married,  and  have  children  to  take  care  of,  she  need  not  be  educated. 
Now,  I  say,  that  because  woman  is  to  be  the  wife  of  man,  because  she  is  to 
be  the  companion  of  legislators,  because  she  is  to  be  the  mother  of  the 
future,  therefore  she  should  be  educated,  thoroughly,  entirely,  —  physically, 
mentally  and  morally. 

One  word  further  in  regard  to  education.  There  are  some  institutions  in 
our  land  that  claim  to  give  women  equal  advantages  with  men  in  every 
department  of  culture.  Such  an  institution  is  Antioch  College,  Ohio,  over 
which  presides  Horace  Mann  ;  another  is  Oberlin  College,  Ohio.  These 
are  good  institutions ;  they  have  given  to  woman  advantages  which  she  has 
received  in  scarcely  any  other  institutions  throughout  all  our  country.  But 
have  they  done  all  ?  Has  Antioch  College,  or  has  Oberlin  College,  given 
to  woman  the  proper  training  in  what  we  call  the  highest  department  of 
education  —  Oratory  ?  They  have  not.  Neither  of  these  institutions  has 
ever  granted  to  woman  the  privilege  of  being  trained  in  this  great  art ;  and 
yet,  without  this  training,  without  any  training  sucli  as  young  men  have 
received  from  these  colleges,  there  have  gone  out  from  these  institutions 
women  who  have  put  to  shame  the  Professors  in  those  colleges ;  women, 
such  as  Lucy  Stone  and  Antoinette  Brown,  who  have  stood  before  the 
world  and  proclaimed  the  equality  of  woman  with  man,  —  proclaimed  the 
everlasting  truth  of  nature.  And  such  women  there  will  be  ;  —  women  in 
whose  souls  burn  the  fires  of  freedom,  which  must  burst  forth,  notwith- 
standing the  edicts  of  colleges,  states,  and  governments.  Woman  will,  she 
must,  speak  the  thoughts  that  go  seething  through  her  brain,  and  give  ut- 
terance to  the  emotions  that  fill  her  soul. 

Now,  I  wish  to  call  your  attention  to  one  point  in  regard  to  the  law. 
Woman  in  the  marriage  relation  is  deprived,  in  the  first  place,  of  the  right 
to  her  own  person.  There  is  a  passage  in  Judge  Reeve's  work,  reading 
somewhat  after  this  manner :  "  It  is  the  law  that  a  wife  cannot  so  contract 
as  to  bind  herself.  Her  contracts  are  said  to  be  void  in  law.  The  reasons 
on  which  this  rule  is  founded,  are  two  ;  first,  the  right  of  the  husband  to  the 
person  of  his  wife."  Think  of  that !  the  right  of  the  husband  to  the  person 
of  his  wife !  "  This  right,"  the  judge  goes  on  to  say,  "  is  guarded  by  the 
law  with  the  utmost  solicitude  I ''  Do  you  know  what  has  been  the  result  of 
the  enforcement  of  such  a  law  as  this  upon  the  people  of  the  world,  during 
the  centuries  of  the  past  ?  There  has  grown  up  with  the  marriage  institu- 
tion, which  it  is  said  should  be  kept  pure  and  holy,  a  system  of  legalized 
prostitution.  This  system  gives  the  husband  unbounded  license  to  sensual 
indulgence,  and  degrades  him  to  the  low  level  of  mere  animal  life,  giving 
lust  a  fatal  predominance  and  perpetuity.    It  robs  woman  of  beauty,  health, 


woman's  rights.  123 

and  vigor,  turns  the ,  loveliness  and  sweetness  of  her  nature  into  bitterness 
and  discontent,  Cifeftges  all  her  love  to  loathing,  and  sends  childhood  into  this 
broad,  bleak  world,  an  unwelcome  intruder  at  the  hearthstone.  Our  friend 
Henry  C.  Wright  has  written  a  work  on  this  subject,  "  The  Unwelcome 
Child,"  which  I  hope  you  will  all  read.  I  say,  this  system  sends  childliood 
into  the  world  an  unwelcome  intruder  at  the  hearthstone,  filled  with  dis- 
ease, and  cursed  with  the  heritage  of  evil,  pain  and  misery.  Think  of  this  ! 
You  have  no  right,  friends,  fathers,  mothers,  to  bestow  life  upon  an  immor- 
tal being,  who,  being  brought  into  the  world,  is  to  be  miserable,  to  be  sick,  to 
be  wretched,  to  curse  his  or  her  existence.  Beware  how  you  take  upon 
yourselves  this  responsibility  !  Beware,  you  law-makers,  how  you  allow  a 
law  to  stand  upon  your  statute-book,  that  gives  this  fearful  power  to  the 
husband  over  the  person  of  his  wife !  Look  abroad  over  the  land,  and  see 
how  many  homes  are  filled  with  unwelcome  children,  in  consequence  of  the 
abuse  of  that  power  by  the  husband ;  unwelcome  to  the  mother  and  to  the 
father,  but  particularly  to  the  mother,  who  is  suffering  all  the  care  and 
responsibility  of  this  great  office  of  maternity.  Should  not  our  laws  be  reg- 
ulated ?  Should  not  woman  be  taught  to  feel  that  she  has  the  power  in  her 
hands  to  rid  herself  of  these  dreadful  fetters  ?  I  tell  you,  sisters,  that  you 
have  in  your  own  hands  the  power  that  must  and  will  rise  up  in  opposition 
to  these  oppressive  statutes ;  that  will  rise  up  in  opposition  to  the  psycho- 
logical influence,  even,  of  those  who  now  have  control  over  you  as  husbands. 

I  speak  not  of  those  who,  as  Mrs  Rose  said  this  morning,  are  "  a  law  unto 
themselves."  I  rejoice  to  believe  that  there  are  many  here  to-night,  who 
are  thus  "a  law  unto  themselves."  I  speak  of  those  who  are  sensual;  who 
are  lustful ;  who  have  no  high  and  pure  ideas  of  the  nature  of  woman ;  who 
have  no  high  and  pure  ideas  of  the  nature  of  childhood;  who  have  no  regard 
for  the  responsibility  they  take  upon  themselves,  when  they  introduce  these 
innocent  beings  into  this  world  unbidden.  I  speak  of  the  gross,  the  vicious, 
the  wicked ;  those  who  do  wrong  because  their  natures  are  perverted  by 
the  influences  imparted  through  their  parents,  or  by  society,  after  they  came 
into  this  breathing  world.  There  are  vicious  men,  —  men  who  spend  their 
days  in  riot,  and  their  nights  in  dissipation.  These  men  come  into  the  pres- 
ence of  pure-minded,  and  pure-bodied  women,  whom  they  call  their  wives,  — 
these  men,  besotted,  imbruted,  whom  you,  my  brothers,  my  respectable 
brothers,  would  not  spend  an  evening  with,  in  any  place,  go  home  to  the 
presence  of  their  wives,  (think  of  it !)  and  society  compels  the  wife,  not 
only  to  spend  her  evenings  with  such  a  man,  but  to  lodge  with  him,  and 
become  the  mother  of  children  by  that  imbruted  husband  !  What  wonder, 
then,  that  the  majority  of  men  sink  below  the  level  of  the  brute  ! 

Woman  !  you  have  the  power  to  resist  such  iniquities,  and  you  should  do 
it,  for  the  sake  of  your  living  children,  and  for  the  sake  of  those  who  are 
yet  unborn.  Let  your  children  be  bro|Ught  into  the  world  with  pure  bodies, 
with  loving  hearts,  and  with  happy  and  healthful  souls,  so  that  they  may 
become  ornaments  to  society,  so  that  they  may  go  rejoicing  through  this 
world,  and  build  up  characters  which  shall  brighten  to  all  eternity. 

I  believe  there  is  "  a  good  time  coming  " ;  I  believe  that  the  words  which 
have  been  spoken  here  to-day  by  Mrs.  Farnham,  by  Mrs.  Rose,  by  Mrs. 
Gage,  and  by  Mrs.  Branch,  will  have  their  effect,  for  they  have  been  utter- 
ed from  sincere  souls  ;  and  I  believe  there  is  indeed  a  better  day  coming 
for  the  whole  human  race,  when  woman,  in  the  exercise  of  her  high  and 
holy  prerogative,  will  introduce  a  diviner  life  for  man  upon  the  earth,  will 
bring  him  up  into  an  atmosphere  of  spirituality,  and  truth,  purity,  holiness, 
and  perfectness  of  character. 


124  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

"  When  from  the  h'ps  of  Truth,  one  mighty  breVth 
Shall  Hkc  a  wliirlwind  scatter  in  its  breeze 
The  whole  dark  pile  of  human  mockeries. 
Then  will  the  reign  of  Mind  commence  on  earth, 
And  starting  fresh,  as  from  a  second  birth, 
Man,  in  the  sunshine  of  the  world's  new  spring, 
Shall  walk  transpai'ent,  like  some  holy  thing." 

The  Committee  on  Finance  submitted  a  report,  recommending  that  an 
admission  fee  of  ten  cents  be  required  for  the  forenoon  and  afternoon  ses- 
sions of  the  Convention  on  Sunday,  which  recommendation  was  adopted. 

The  President  then  held  up  a  piece  of  blank  paper,  which  he  said  was 
the  programme  submitted  by  the  Business  Committee  for  the  next  day  — 
signifying  that  there  was  to  be  a  perfectly  free  platform. 

The  Convention  then,  at  half-past  nine  o'clock,  adjourned. 


THIRD  DAY  — SUNDAY. 

FORENOON    SESSION. 

The  Convention  was  called  to  order  at  nine  o'clock,  the  President  in  the 
chair. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  Gardner,  it  was  Voted,  That  until  ten  o'clock,  the 
speakers  be  limited  to  ten  minutes,  and  that  no  extension  of  the  time  be 
allowed. 

IcHABOD  Morton,  of  Plymouth,  read  a  series  of  resolutions  which  he 
advocated  in  a  brief  speech.  He  said  that  the  good  Father  of  us  all  had 
planted  deep  in  the  human  soul  the  desire  for  heaven ;  but  with  all  the 
powers  given  us,  little  lower  than  those  of  the  angels.  He  had  not  given  us 
any  knowledge  to  know  the  way  to  heaven ;  but  He  had  communicated  that 
way  by  Jesus  Christ  his  Son.  That  way,  however,  was  one  of  the  "  Lost 
Arts."  A  living  Christian  had  not  been  known  since  the  first  or  second 
century  of  the  Christian  era.  Instead  of  living  the  truths  which  Christ 
taught  by  his  words  and  his  life,  we  had  had  all  sorts  of  mysticims,  and 
the  efforts  of  priests  and  churches  and  sectarians  to  harmonize  Moses 
with  Jesus  Christ.  They  might  as  well  attempt  to  harmonize  fire  and  ice. 
Moses  made  known  a  partial  God ;  a  God  of  the  Hebrews,  and  who  gave 
to  that  nation  all  the  rest  of  mankind,  to  be  their  slaves.  He  made  known 
a  being  who  is  the  God  of  war  and  slavery.  Jesus  Christ  made  known  a 
God  who  was  the  Father  of  all  Mankind,  and  Avhen  we  fully  apprehended 
the  words  he  taught  us  to  pray,  "  Our  Father,"  we  should  recognize  every 
man  and  woman  as  our  brother  and  sister.  Jesus  Christ  was  the  model 
which  the  Father  had  given  us  by  which  to  form  the  character  of  a  Christian. 
And  why  was  not  the  model  followed  ?  Because  human  nature  is  so  con- 
stituted, that  wherever  men  are  born,  they  follow  the  example  of  those  who 
are  highest  in  influence  and  position  about  them,  and  seek  to  reach  heaven 
by  the  path  in  which  they  walk  ;  and  they  can  know  no  other  way  until 
they  have  it  pointed  out  to  them  in  the  life  of  a  fellow  being.  The  reason 
why  no  man  or  woman  had  been  a  Christian,  was  because  Jesus  Christ  had 
not  been  lived  over  again  in  this  body  and  in  this  life.  When  we  followed 
the  model  which  God  the  Father  had  presented  us,  there  would  be  Chris- 


FREE    TRADE.  125 

tians.  If  a  man  wanted  a  beautiful  church  or  ship,  he  employed  an  archi- 
tect to  make  the  model,  and  if  the  workmen  did  not  follow  the  model  faith- 
fully, the  contract  was  void.  AVhen  we  followed  the  model  which  the 
Divine  Architect,  in  his  infinite  wisdom,  has  given  us,  in  Jesus  Christ,  his 
Son,  then  we  might  be  one  with  Christ,  and  one  with  the  Father,  —  branches 
of  his  vine,  bringing  forth  his  fruit. 

What  was  to  be  done  to  bring  this  heaven  upon  earth?  Something 
besides  a  knowledge  of  the  teachings  of  Jesus  was  necessary.  The  good 
Father  had  made  every  thing  subject  to  invariable,  just,  and  righteous 
laws.  Man,  the  noblest  work  of  Diety  on  earth,  is  subject  to  laws,  which, 
if  he  disobeys,  he  must  suffer  for  his  disobedience.  The  laws  of  the  human 
being  must  be  known,  before  we  could  become  children  of  God.  What  man, 
however  great  his  acquirements,  had  ever  studied  the  laws  of  God  relating 
to  every  organ  of  the  body  and  power  of  the  mind  ?  That  science  had  yet 
to  be  learned,  that  mankind  may  be  trained  in  the  knowledge  of  the  laws  of 
God,  and  to  the  development  of  every  organ  of  the  body  and  every  power 
of  the  soul. 

Mr.  TooHEY.  Among  the  remarks  made  by  the  friend  who  has  just 
left  the  platform,  was  this  startling  declaration,  —  that  the  knowledge  of  the 
way  by  which  to  become  a  Christian  was  among  the  "  Lost  Arts."  I  do 
not  know  but  that,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term,  this  may  be  true ;  yet 
hoping  that  we  are  entering  upon  a  state  of  things  by  virtue  of  which  we 
shall  restore,  not  only  the  key  to  the  Christian  character,  but  the  Christian 
character  itself,  as  well  as  the  virtues  that  spring  from  it,  I  present  a  reso- 
lution to  you  upon  Free  Trade,  which  I  hope  will  bring  out  a  full  discussion 
upon  a  subject  certainly  demanding  a  free  canvass  :  — 

• 
Resolved,  That  natural  justice,  individual  and  social  morality,  the  peace,  material 
wealth  and  prosperity  of  nations,  and  the  spirit  of  human  brotherhood,  demand,  that  all 
international  tariffs  be  immediately  and  forever  abolished,  and  that  governments,  in  all 
their  various  departments,  be  supported  by  direct  taxation;  and  that  America,  as  a 
republican  government,  is  particularly  called  upon  immediately  to  lead  off  in  this  im- 
portant reform,  thereby  promoting  the  best  interests  of  its  inhabitants. 

As  I  am  not  much  acquainted  with  the  political  aspects  of  the  subject,  I 
do  not  intend  to  bring  them  up.  But,  believing  that  we  shall  grow  wise  and 
humane  just  in  proportion  as  we  rely  upon  the  integrity  of  human  nature, 
in  proportion  as  we  rely  upon  natural,  inherent  rights  ;  and  believing  that, 
up  to  this  time,  we  have  suffered  in  proportion  as  we  have  allowed  suspi- 
cion, or  any  of  the  mechanical  safeguards  that  gather  around  the  instinctive 
cupidity  of  our  nature,  to  operate  upon  our  minds,  —  believing  that  we  suf- 
fer in  proportion  as  we  magnify  the  one  and  discredit  the  other,  I  therefore 
move  that  the  resolution  be  adopted,  as  in  some  sense  the  conviction  of  the 
Convention. 

William  Robson,  of  Warrington,  England.  I  hope  it  will  not  be 
deemed  presumption  in  an  Englishman  rising  to  second  that  resolution.  Our 
country,  as  you  are  aware,  has  carried  out  that  principle  to  a  very  great  ex- 
tent. I  am  not  sure  that  I  can  state,  with  perfect  truth,  that  it  has  been 
carried  out  in  every  point  and  particular ;  but  I  think  I  can  state  that  there 
is  no  article  of  manufacture  in  England,  which  the  English  people  make 
and  sell  in  the  open  market  of  the  world,  that  is  subject  to  any  tariff  what- 
ever on  its  introduction  into  England.  Now,  as  a  friend  to  Free  Trade,  as 
one  who,  in  some  small  degree,  contributed  to  the  triumph  of  the  principles 
of  Free  Trade  in  England,  at  the  time  of  the  abolition  of  the  Corn  Laws,  I 


126  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

would  respectfully  submit  to  you  a  few  thoughts  in  furtherance  of  the  reso- 
lution that  has  been  proposed. 

I  suppose  that  you  will  concede  to  me  that  a  lie  is  a  lie,  whoever  speaks 
it ;  that  it  does  not  matter  whether  the  lie  is  told  by  one  person,  or  by  a 
thousand,  or  by  a  nation,  or  by  the  whole  world  ["  Hear,  hear,"]  ;  that  if  it 
is  a  lie,  no  resolution  can  make  it  true.  I  believe  that  you  will  all  agree  to 
that  proposition.  My  second  proposition  is,  —  and  you  will  all  agree  with 
me,  —  that  a  nation  is  composed  of  individuals,  and  that  whatever  is  right 
or  wrong  for  an  individual  is  right  or  wrong  for  a  nation,  and  that  whatever 
is  right  or  wrong  for  a  nation  is  right  or  wrong  for  an  individual. 

!Now,  then,  I  claim  the  privilege  of  humanity  —  the  right  to  exchange  any 
manufacture  of  mine  with  any  person  on  the  face  of  the  broad  earth  who 
chooses,  of  his  own  free  will,  to  buy  it  of  me,  and  I  deny  that  any  individual 
has  the  right  to  interfere  with  that  exchange.  Suppose,  for  instance,  I  have 
some  goods  that  I  wish  to  sell  to  Mr.  Hovey,  and  he  chooses  to  buy  them  of 
me.  1  say  that  my  friend  Mr.  Wright  would  have  no  right  to  interfere  and 
say,  "  You  shall  not  sell  those  goods  to  Mr.  Hovey,  unless  you  give  me  a 
portion  of  the  proceeds."  He  can  only  make  that  demand  on  the  ground 
that  both  of  us  agree  that  it  is  right  and  proper  that  he  should  have  a  part 
of  the  proceeds, — and  you  will  see  that  it  would  be  rather  difficult  to  convince 
us  that  that  was  the  case.  Now,  I  say  that  the  same  principle  holds  good 
as  between  nations  :  that  if  you,  as  Americans,  choose  to  sell  your  wheat  to 
England,  and  England  chooses  to  buy  it,  no  government  has  the  right  to 
step  in  and  say  that  you  shall  not  do  it  unless  you  give  that  government  a 
part  of  the  money. 

The  excuses  that  are  offered  for  the  establishment  of  tariffs  are  two. 
The  first  is  embraced  in  the  word  "  Protection."  This  "  protection  "  means 
the  giving  of  a  bounty  to  every  individual  manufacturer  to  supply  a  given 
article.  Of  course,  if  a  whole  nation  chooses  to  say  to  one  of  its  members, 
"  We  think  that  the  manufacture  of  such  and  such  goods  is  so  much  benefit 
to  all  that  we  are  willing  to  pay  you  a  sum  of  money  to  carry  it  on,"  they 
have  the  right  to  do  so ;  but  if  any  member  says,  "  I  do  not  regard  it  in 
that  light,"  then  the  majority  have  no  right  to  compel  him  to  pay  his  money 
for  that  object.  I  say  again,  that  no  government  has  the  moral  right  to 
deny  him  the  privilege  of  buying  that  article  in  the  cheapest  market  of  the 
world. 

The  second  excuse  is,  Revenue  ;  that  is,  Expediency  ;  —  and  in  a  world 
where  principle  never  governs,  of  course,  to  practical  men,  expediency 
means  a  great  deal.  Revenue  must  be  had  for  the  State.  It  is  a  very  easy 
matter  to  collect  revenue  at  the  custom-house ;  so,  almost  all  nations  adopt 
the  custom-house  idea.  Now,  then,  I  appeal  to  your  common  sense.  Amer- 
ica wants  a  certain  amount  of  money  for  governmental  purposes.  Who  pays 
this  money  ?  It  is  perfectly  clear  that  only  those  pay  the  money  who  have 
it.  Those  only  pay  the  revenue  to  the  State  who  have  the  means  of  paying 
it ;  and,  therefore,  any  custom  duty  that  is  levied  on  a  given  article  is  paid 
by  the  consumer  at  the  end.  How  much  easier,  then,  it  would  be  for  the 
consumer  to  pay  his  share  of  the  taxation  at  once  to  the  government,  rather 
than  to  let  it  go  round  through  the  custom-house.  This  is  the  more  direct 
and  simple  method  of  doing  it. 

Another  point.  The  only  just  principle  of  taxation  is,  that  every  man 
shall  pay  according  to  his  ability  to  pay.  No  man's  necessities  should  be 
taxed.  I  deny  the  right  of  any  government  to  tax  any  man  or  woman  and 
take  from  him  or  her  that  which  is  necessary  for  subsistence.     All  taxes 


FREE    TRADE.  127 

should  come  out  of  the  superfluities  of  those  who  have  them.  If  I  have 
ten  dollars,  Mr.  Wright  one  hundred  dollars,  and  Mr.  Hovey  one  thousand 
dollars,  Mr.  Hovey  should  pay  one  hundred  times  as  much  as  I,  and  Mr. 
Wright  ten  times  as  much.  The  principle  is  perfectly  clear,  that  every  one 
should  pay  according  to  his  ability  to  pay;  and  ability  comes  out  of  the  su- 
perfluities of  life,  and  they  should  be  paid  for  proportionately.  Now,  all 
custom-house  duties  fail  in  this  principle.  The  poor  man  pays  just  as 
much  on  his  tea,  coffee  and  sugar,  as  the  richest  among  you. 

I  say  that  the  principle  of  taxation  is  unjust,  and  I  appeal  to  your  moral 
sense  if  it  is  not  so.  If  men  should  pay  taxes  according  to  their  ability,  di- 
rect taxation,  in  proportion  to  ability,  is  the  only  right  principle.  Then,  this 
principle,  if  adopted,  would  render  fraud  almost  impossible,  it  would  throw 
open  your  ports  to  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  it  would  reduce  the  cost  of  the 
articles  which  you  buy,  and  tend  to  make  all  mankind  one  common  brother- 
hood, the  sons  of  one  common  Father,  and  the  disciples  of  Truth  and  Love. 

Mr.  Tiffany  proposed  to  amend  the  resolution,  by  striking  out  all  after 
the  word  "  Resolved,''  and  inserting  as  follows :  — 

"  That  reforms,  looking  to  the  moral  elevation  of  individuals  or  of  society,  to  be  suc- 
cessful, must  have  their  basis  in  religion." 

Mr.  Tiffany  said:  —  This  has  been  called  a  Convention  of  Reformers; 
and  we  have  as  great  a  variety  of  reformers  in  our  society,  as  we  have  va- 
rieties of  character  to  institute  and  suggest  them ;  and  every  man  here, 
myself  among  the  rest,  booted  and  spurred,  mount  our  reform  hobby,  and 
complain  if  we  cannot  ride  our  nag  round  the  ring  and  let  the  people  look. 
I  purpose  now  to  put  in  a  nag  that  all  can  ride ;  and,  therefore,  I  present  this 
question  of  Religion.  I  have  no  desire,  at  this  time,  to  make  a  speech,  but  I 
would  draw  out  from  the  audience  their  ideas  of  religion.  I  will  throw  out 
merely  a  suggestion,  which  I  wish  you  to  understand  as  expressing  my  views. 

I  make  a  distinction  between  what  a  man  thinks  as  to  the  manner  of  ac- 
complishing any  particular  result,  and  what  the  true  man  desires  in  refer- 
ence to  the  accomplishment  of  a  result  —  between  the  means  by  which  a 
man  proposes  to  attain  an  end,  and  the  end  proposed  to  be  attained. 

I  mean  by  "  Religion,"  that  truth  which  I  believe  necessary  to  enlighten 
the  world ;  and  I  wish  not  only  to  know  that  truth,  but  to  practice  it  in 
my  life.  When  I  wish  to  present  to  the  world  the  idea  of  purity,  I  wish 
to  present  that  idea  through  my  own  daily  life,  by  becoming  the  embodiment 
of  it.  When  I  wish  to  present  to  the  world  a  true  representation  of  justice, 
I  wish  to  aid  that  representation  by  the  manifestation  of  justice  incarnated 
in  my  life  and  character.  When  I  have  that  desire  which  shall  make  me  wish 
to  be  all-pure,  all-just,  and  all-good,  which  shall  lead  me  to  strive  to  become, 
in  myself,  the  incarnation  of  every  virtue,  and  when  I  make  that  the  burden 
of  my  life  and  of  my  aspirations,  and  try  every  thought,  and  feeling,  and 
act,  by  that  inward  revelation  of  what  is  true,  and  pure,  and  just,  I  then  be- 
come religious.  No  matter  whether  I  believe  in  one  God  or  ten  Gods,  so  far 
as  the  outward  faith  is  concerned,  provided  that  the  being  who  becomes  the 
object  of  my  soul's  worship  is  that  which  represents  the  pure,  true,  just  and 
good,  after  whom  my  soul  hungers  and  thirsts,  —  "  pants  as  the  hart  panteth 
for  the  water-brooks."  If  I  am  in  that  state  of  aspiration,  I  am  a  religious 
man,  in  its  true  sense.  So  then,  when  I  make  use  of  this  term  "  Religion," 
it  is  not  in  a  sectarian  sense. 

I  want  the  command  to  come  home  to  every  man  who  rises  to  speak 
upon  any  question  —  "  Physician,  heal  thyself! "     "  Cast  out  first  the  beam 


128  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

out  of  thine  own  eye,  and  then  shalt  thou  see  clearly  to  pull  out  the  mote 
that  is  in  thy  brother's  eye." 

This  principle  of  absolute  truth,  purity,  justice,  and  right,  is  the  great  ob- 
ject of  my  individual  aspirations.  If  I  pay  more  attention  to  my  own  faults; 
to  that  which  separates  me  from  the  all-pure  and  all-true ;  look  more  into 
my  own  condition  ;  be  more  earnest  to  put  my  own  heart  right  than  the  hearts 
of  others, — it  will  do  more  to  reform  the  world  than  all  the  denunciations  I 
can  pour  out  from  now  till  doomsday  ;  will  do  more  to  remove  slavery,  in- 
temperance and  lust  from  the  world  than  all  reformers  thundering  forth  to 
the  end  of  time.  So  I  say  to  all  reformers,  if  we  wish  to  regenerate  the 
world,  we  must  begin  in  our  own  hearts  and  affections.  Try  them  by  the 
absolute  standard  of  truth,  purity  and  righteousness,  and  see  to  it  that  we 
come  up  to  that  stiindard ;  and  when  we  have  thus  reformed  ourselves,  and 
become  a  light  before  the  world,  speaking  not  only  by  the  tongue  but  by  the 
life,  w^e  shall  not  be  obliged  to  come  out  and  be  called  a  poor  despised  band, 
each  man  trotting  out  his  own  hobby,  and  riding  it  round  the  ring,  that  the 
world  may  gaze  on  it.  For  one,  I  only  desire  that  you  and  I,  as  true  re- 
formers, shall  first  see  to  it  that  we  have  in  our  own  souls  that  aspiration 
after  the  all-just,  all-good,  all-pure,  and  all-holy,  that  shall  make  us  love 
truth,  justice,  purity,  and  righteousness  more  than  all  things  else. 

H.  C.  Wright.  Mr.  President,  —  The  resolution  before  the  Conven- 
tion relates  to  the  restrictions  put  upon  the  intercourse  of  man  with  man,  by 
governmental  organizations.  I  have  a  bushel  of  corn  ;  you  a  yard  of  cloth. 
I  want  your  cloth  ;  you  want  my  corn.  I  want  to  exchange  my  corn  for 
your  cloth.  You  consent  to  an  even  exchange.  But  you  live  in  England  or 
China.  We  violate  no  principle  of  justice  or  morality  in  the  exchange ; 
we  interfere  with  no  man's  rights.  We  greatly  benefit  ourselves,  without 
any  injury  to  another.  We  simply  wish  to  exchange  our  industry ;  I 
have  the  power  to  produce  and  to  furnish  you  what  you  want,  you  to  furn- 
ish me  what  I  want. 

We  exchange  the  fruits  of  our  labor,  and  each  returns  to  enjoy  what  is 
obtained  of  the  other.  But,  before  I  can  use  your  cloth,  or  you  my  corn,  in 
steps  a  third  person,  in  the  shape  of  a  soulless,  godless  government,  and 
seizes  my  cloth,  and  either  robs  me  of  it,  or  compels  me  to  pay  for  it  twice 
over.  That  third  person  expended  nothing  to  produce  the  cloth  or  the  com, 
yet  he  strips  me  of  my  cloth,  and  you  of  your  corn,  and  compels  us  to  pay 
him  for  the  goods  of  which  he  had  robbed  us.  This  is  called  laying  a  tariff, 
or  duty  on  industry.  The  pretense  is  —  to  support  that  third  person  (the 
government),  or  to  protect  my  industry.  I  claim  it  as  my  birthright  inher- 
itance to  carry  my  industry  where  I  please,  and  to  exchange  it  for  what  I 
please,  provided  I  wrong  no  man  in  so  doing. 

The  reform  sought  by  this  resolution  is,  the  immediate  abolition  of  all 
tariffs  and  customs  —  all  restrictions  on  the  kindly,  social,  religious,  literary, 
and  commercial  intercourse  of  man  with  man,  around  the  world.  It  says, 
*'  Natural  justice,  individual  and  social  morality,  the  peace,  wealth  and 
prosperity  of  nations,  and  the  spirit  of  human  brotherhood,"  demand  this. 
All  tariffs,  whether  for  the  support  of  government,  or  the  protection  of 
home-industry,  are  opposed  to  justice,  engender  strifes  and  wars  between 
nations,  impoverish  individuals,  build  up  an  aristocracy  of  wealth,  tend  to 
exalt  wealth  above  justice  and  humanity,  promote  nationalism,  and  annihi- 
hilate  the  spirit  of  brotherhood  among  men.  Standing  armies,  and  navies, 
state  religions,  and  the  horrible  corruptions  of  governments,  would  cease 
under  a  system  of  direct  taxation.     Seventy  millions  of  dollars  have  been 


FREE   TRADE.  129 

expended  by  this  government  the  past  year,  to  establish  slavery  in  Kansas 
and  to  compel  the  friends  of  freedom  to  bow  their  necks  to  slave-hunters  and 
slave-breeders.  Fifty  millions  of  dollars  more  are  asked  to  consummate 
the  deed.  This  had  never  been  done  had  the  government  been  supported 
by  direct  taxation.  Three  dollars  per  annum  are  levied  on  every  man, 
woman  and  child  in  the  nation  to  enable  James  Buchanan,  and  his  fellow 
tools  of  kidnappers,  to  extend  and  perpetuate  slavery.  Nations  will  employ 
their  bands  of  hired  and  trained  assassins  (called  soldiers)  to  murder  in- 
nocent men,  women  and  children,  while  the  people  supply  them  with  means 
by  indirect  taxation.  The  only  way  to  avert  the  horrors  of  a  military 
despotism  in  this  country  is  to  abolish  all  tariffs,  and  supply  the  means  of 
government  by  direct  taxation.  This  is  the  only  way  to  correct  the  corrup- 
tions of  governments.     All  tariffs  are  unjust,  therefore  inexpedient. 

All  attempts  to  regulate  the  social  or  commercial  intercourse  of  individual 
man  with  man,  by  governmental  organizations,  must  end  in  despotism  or  in 
anarchy.  Such  organizations  have  no  souls,  no  reason,  no  conscience,  no  God, 
no  responsibility ;  they  are  invariably  and  of  necessity  regardless  of  individ- 
ual justice,  truth,  love,  honesty,  and  mercy.  By  precept  and  example,  they 
debauch  individual  and  social  morals  —  having  no  respect  for  the  life,  lib- 
erty, prosperity,  or  happiness  of  individuals.  They  all  claim  a  right  to^ 
murder  or  enslave  individuals,  at  their  discretion,  and  for  their  interest.  If 
governments  be  thus  corrupt,  as  they  ever  have  been  and  must  be  when 
supported  by  tariffs,  how  are  individuals  to  be  made  to  respect  life  and 
liberty  ?  The  people  are  made  appendages  to  the  government,  not  the  gov- 
ernment to  the  people. 

Mr.  Tiffany,  in  his  substitute,  asserts  that  all  reforms  must  be  based  on 
rehgion;  intimating  that  this  resolution  does  not  base  this  free-trade  re- 
form on  religion.  The  reform  proposed  in  the  resolution  is  based  on 
natural  justice,  the  peace  of  nations,  social  morality,  and  human  brother- 
hood. If  by  religion,  as  a  basis  of  reform,  he  means  something  aside  from 
these,  his  religion  is  a  sham,  and  the  less  there  is  of  it  the  better.  A  reform 
based  on  justice,  morality,  peace,  and  brotherhood,  has  its  foundation  in  the 
heart  of  God,  and  needs  no  other  basis. 

One  word  more.  I  am  glad  this  subject  of  free-trade  has  come  up  to- 
day. It  is  Sunday  —  called  the  Holy  Sabbath  —  God's  day.  If  this  be  any 
more  the  Lord's  day  than  another,  which  I  do  not  think,  this  is  the  very 
day  to  discuss  free-trade,  for  it  is  a  Ao/y  subject  —  the  Lord's  holy  cause.. 
He  who  pleads  for  free-trade,  pleads  the  cause  of  God.  How  ?  He  pleads 
the  cause  of  man,  and  whatever  concerns  the  virtue,  the  elevation,  and  hap- 
piness of  man,  is  dear  to  the  heart  of  God.  Whatever  is  for  the  good  of 
man,  is  for  the  glory  of  God.  Man  owes  no  duties  or  obligations  to  God, 
aside  from  those  which  he  owes  to  himself  and  fellow-men. 

Mr.  Beeson.  We  have  had  a  great  deal  of  talk  here  about  humanity, 
and  about  the  phenomena  of  Spiritualism,  and  the  development  of  the 
needs,  wants,  and  destinies,  of  all  humanity.  We  have  had  some  allusion 
to  the  Paternity  of  God,  and  the  universal  Brotherhood  of  man.  We  have 
had  every  class  of  humanity  up  here,  pretty  much,  but  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant classes  that  ever  lived  in  this  country  —  I  mean,  the  owners  of  the 
continent.  Our  speakers  will  talk  about  negroes,  and  Mexicans,  and  Rus- 
sian serfs,  and  almost  everybody  else,  but  the  poor  Indians  are  overlooked,, 
as  if  they  had  no  rights  at  all.  Mr.  Tiffany  has  introduced  religion ; 
but  he  has  omitted  to  speak  of  the  great  definition  of  religion,  about  which, 
there  is  no  dispute.  All  will  agree,  that  "  pure  and  undefiled  religion  "  is 
9 


130  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

this,  —  "  to  visit  the  fatherless  and  the  widows  in  their  affliction."  Now,  I 
want  to  call  your  attention  to  a  great  nation,  which  does  not  "  visit  the  fath- 
erless and  the  widows,"  but  which  manufactures  them  by  thousands,  and 
leaves  them  to  the  most  aggravated  torture  that  the  human  mind  can  im- 
agine. I  call  your  attention  to  a  single  fact.  Agents  were  recently  sent  to 
Rogue  River,  Oregon,  my  late  residence,  to  gather  up  the  remnants  of  the  In- 
dian tribes.  They  found  one  tribe  with  ten  men  and  seven  widows  ;  another 
with  twelve  men,  and  forty  widows  and  children  ;  another  with  ten  men,  and 
sixty-five  widows  and  children.  There  is  a  class  of  widows  and  orphans, 
that  appeal  to  these  benevolent  countenances  for  sympathy  in  their  affliction. 

In  the  New  York  Tribune,  lately,  was  an  account  of  a  battle  with  the 
Indians,  which  says  it  was  a  running  fight,  in  which  seventy-six  warriors 
were  killed,  and  three  hundred  horses  captured.  There  are  more  widows 
and  orphans,  the  objects  of  your  Christian  sympathies. 

When  I  look  upon  these  benevolent  countenances,  —  these  women  with 
tender  hearts  and  these  men  with  the  love  of  justice  imprinted  upon  their 
brows,  —  I  know  that  they  must  protest  against  these  things.  I  know  that 
when  they  hear  of  these  things,  and  learn  that  they  are  true,  they  will 
lift  up  their  voices  against  them.  I  know  the  reason  why  you  have  left 
these  people  in  the  hands  of  thieves  and  robbers,  and  passed  by  for  years, 
like  the  Priest  and  Levite,  on  the  other  side,  is  because  you  have  not  been 
sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  facts.  You  have  thought  that  the  Indians 
were  destined  to  perish,  and  it  did  not  matter  how  soon.  It  is  in  my  power 
to  place  before  you  facts  that  shall  convince  you  that  there  is  no  natural 
tendency  to  decay.  The  only  reason  why  the  Indians  decrease,  is  because 
we  kill  them,  —  the  same  reason  which  has  thinned  our  forests,  and  extermi- 
nated our  wild  beasts.  But  do  you  not  know  that  the  forests  were  felled  by 
willing  hands,  and  that  the  wild  beasts  have  perished  by  the  rifle  of  the 
huntsman  ?  Jf  you  had  wanted  to  save  the  forests,  it  would  have  been  in 
your  power  to  save  the  whole  of  them.  Your  land  could  have  been  filled 
with  wild  beasts,  if  you  had  chosen,  and  had  felt  it  your  interest  and  duty, 
to  have  it  so.     Well,  it  is  your  interest  and  duty  to  save  these  fellow-men. 

I  arose,  Mr.  Chairman,  merely  to  say  a  few  words,  hoping  that  I  might 
have  another  opportunity,  in  the  course  of  the  day,  to  present  this  subject 
more  fully ;  and  I  beg  that  you  will  allow  me  to  have  an  opportunity  to  speak 
in  this  cause,  for  I  know  that  this  Convention  will  send  forth  its  voice  in 
behalf  of  that  oppressed  and  persecuted  race,  and  that  voice  will  start  other 
voices,  in  other  States.  I  know  that  you  will  not  consent  to  this  murder  of 
these  people  in  cold  blood  ;  I  know  that  you  will  protest  against  it ;  and  I 
know  that  if  you  do  protest  against  it,  it  will  be  stayed. 

Mr.  Curtis  moved  to  amend  the  resolution,  submitted  by  Mr.  Tiffany, 
so  that  it  should  read  as  follows :  — 

Resolved,  That  there  is  no  religion  which  is  worth  any  thing,  that  is  not  based  on 
reform.     [Applause.] 

Mr.  C.  said,  I  offer  the  amendment  for  this  reason.  Mr.  Tiffany  tells  us 
that  every  man  rides  his  own  nag,  and  displays  it  accordingly.  I  have  no 
objection  whatever  to  this,  but  I  like  to  have  every  man's  nag  have  his  own 
name  attaclied  to  it ;  and  I  think  to  call  any  man's  nag  by  the  name  of 
"  Religion,"  shows  a  great  want  of  charity,  for  I  look  upon  the  name  as  one 
of  the  blackest  and  most  scoundrel-like  names  that  can  be  chosen.  Tliere  has 
.never  been  a  sin  or  a  wickedness  perpetrated  on  the  human  race,  that  has 


FREE    TRADE.  131 

not  been  justified,  perpetuated  and  sustained  under  the  name,  and  by  the 
authority  of,  religion.  God  help  me,  whenever  I  call  any  thing  I  do  by 
the  name  of  religion  !     I  should  be  very  sorry  to  do  it. 

I  want  to  speak  on  the  question  of  Free  Trade.  If  I  make  inquiry  into 
the  condition  of  those  nations  which  are  surrounded  by  custom-houses  and 
tariffs,  on  the  continent  of  Europe  or  anywhere  else  in  the  world,  I  find 
that  just  in  proportion  as  these  separate  nations  and  communities  are  thus 
divided  by  custom-houses  and  duties,  so  have  they  fought  and  suffered,  and 
so  are  they  in  debt  in  consequence,  and  now  struggle  for  their  liberty  from 
debt  and  oppression.  Just  in  proportion  as  we  remove  these  custom-houses 
and  tariffs,  do  we  remove  the  possibility  and  probability  of  war,  and  conse- 
quently, we  get  rid  of  all  the  evils  which  appertain  to  war.  You  know  it 
would  be  impossible  to  make  a  war  between  Vermont  and  any  of  the  neigh- 
boring States ;  but  it  is  very  possible  in  Europe.  There  are  little  commu- 
nities in  Europe,  not  half  or  quarter  the  size  of  Vermont,  who  have  as  much 
interest  in  knowing  about  each  other,  as  you  have  in  knowing  about  the 
next  State,  and  whose  interests  are  one,  as  yours  are,  I  think,  but  yet  they 
are  fighting  and  quarrelling  continually,  simply  because  they  do  not  know 
each  other.  Just  in  proportion  as  the  principles  of  Free  Trade  are  under- 
stood and  carried  out,  will  the  people  of  different  countries  be  brought 
together,  and  all  the  blessings  which  result  from  this  intercourse  be  obtained. 
There  is  no  state  in  Europe,  except  England,  where  men  could  be  brought 
together  from  different  parts,  in  a  Convention  such  as  this,  and  freely 
express  their  opinions  on  men  and  things,  on  government  and  religion. 
"Why  ?  Simply  because  of  these  tariffs,  which  have  kept  the  people  in  igno- 
rance of  the  desires  and  wishes  of  each  other.  They  do  not  know  what 
they  want ;  they  do  not  know  what  their  neighbors  want  in  the  next  country, 
whom,  often,  they  are  trained  to  hate.  My  friend  who  spoke  to  you  (Mr. 
Robson),  whom  I  am  proud  to  recognize  as  an  Englishman  and  a  fellow 
countryman,  knows  very  well  that  even  in  England  there  would  be  a  diffi- 
culty, to  some  extent,  in  holding  a  Convention  like  this,  but  on  the  continent, 
it  would  be  utterly  impossible. 

Dr.  Gardner  said  he  had  heard  a  very  general  desire  expressed  that 
Andrew  Jackson  Davis  should  address  the  Convention  at  some  stated  hour, 
and  he  would  therefore  move  that  Mr.  Davis  be  invited  to  occupy  the  stand 
at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  to  address  the  Convention  on  any  subject  he 
may  choose,  without  limitation  of  time. 

Mr.  Davis  said  he  should  be  very  sorry  to  have  any  such  exception  made 
in  his  behalf.  He  wished  to  take  his  chance  with  the  rest,  and  when  he  got 
the  floor,  if  the  audience  saw  fit  to  extend  the  time,  let  them  extend  the 
same  courtesy  to  him  that  had  been  extended  to  others.  He  had  enjoyed 
his  silence  as  much  as  others  had  enjoyed  the  speeches  they  had  made. 

A  lengthy  discussion  followed  upon  the  motion,  in  which  a  number  of 
speakers  took  part,  but  it  was  finally  carried. 

John  Landon  then  offered  the  following  resolution  :  — 

Resolved,  That  the  retention  or  introduction  of  the  teaching  of  any  of  the  creeds  of 
the  sects  of  Christendom  in  our  common  schools,  where  sciences  are  now  taught,  ought 
immediately  to  be  abandoned. 

A  song  was  then  sung  by  the  Harmonial  Club,  after  which  Mr.  Tiffany 
again  took  the  platform,  and  said :  —  I  believe  we  are  now  back  again  upon 
the  question  on  the  amendment  proposed  to  the  resolution  on  Free  Trade, 
"  that  all  reforms  not  based  on  religion  must  fail."      If  I  understand  my 


132  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

friend  Wright's  objection,  who  followed  me  after  my  remarks  on  the  intro- 
duction of  this  amendment,  it  resolves  itself  into  this :  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  absolute  justice  ;  it  only  exists  as  man's  idea,  and  as  men  diiFer  in  their 
ideas,  therefore  there  is  no  standard  of  justice,  and  when  we  talk  about 
justice,  we  talk  about  an  ideal  thing,  and  one  that  varies  accordingly  as 
men  differ  who  talk  about  it.  Is  there  any  such  thing  as  justice  absolute  ? 
[Mr.  Wright  —  "Yes."]  Is  that  dependent  on  our  idea  of  absolute  justice, 
or  is  it  independent  of  our  idea  ?  [Mr.  Wright  —  "  Yes."]  Is  there  any 
way  of  attaining  to  it,  so  that  we  shall  know  we  have  it  ?  Is  there  any 
such  thing  as  truth  absolute  ?  [Mr.  Wright  —  "  Yes."]  How  shall  I  get 
it  ?  That  is  the  question.  Is  there  such  a  thing  as  purity  absolute  ?  [Mr. 
Wright  —  "  Yes."]  How  shall  we  know  it  ?  These  are  questions  I  want 
brought  before  this  Convention.  We  are  talking  of  injustice  in  national 
and  social  relations.  Very  well ;  if  there  is  an  absolute  standard,  how  shall 
we  find  it  out  ?  I  get  up  and  speak,  and  you  say,  "  Oh,  that  is  \jour  idea." 
You  get  up  and  speak,  and  I  say,  "  Oh,  that  is  your  idea."  Very  well ;  can 
we  get  beneath  an  idea  on  this  subject  ?  Can  I  arrive  at  any  means  by 
which,  independent  of  your  idea  and  mine,  I  can  dig  down  deep  to  that 
foundation  of  eternal  truth  and  justice,  and  know  that  I  am  there  ?  —  where 
I  can  know  myself,  and  know  that  God  is  in  me,  and  speaking  through 
me  ?  Is  there  such  a  place,  such  a  state,  such  a  condition  ?  That  is  the 
question  I  want  to  submit.  Or  are  we  to  go  on,  each  man  according  to  his 
own  theory  or  idea,  setting  up  his  standard,  and  looking  for  nothing  beyond 
his  idea  ? 

Now,  I  have  a  simple  proposition  to  submit,  which  covers  my  definition 
of  religion ;  which  rises  above  all  ideas  upon  this  subject,  and  becomes  the 
great  fountain  and  well  from  which  all  true  ideas  on  the  subject  of  justice 
and  right  must  spring.  With  this  aspiration  of  my  soul  to  become,  in  my- 
self, absolute  in  my  truth ;  absolute  in  my  purity ;  absolute  in  my  justice, 
whether  it  shall  pluck  out  my  right  eye,  or  cut  off  my  right  hand,  or 
take  my  life,  I  will  stand  up  for  justice,  according  to  my  highest  light 
and  holiest  aspirations.  When,  nailed  to  the  cross,  and  near  my  death, 
you  pass  by,  reviling  me  and  wagging  your  heads,  I  cry  out,  from  the 
very  innermost  of  my  soul,  "  Father,  forgive  them,  they  know  not  what 
they  do ! "  And  if  I  find  in  my  soul  a  spirit  that  would  cause  me 
to  turn  round  and  denounce  you,  I  know  I  have  not  that  love  in  my  heart 
—  I  know  that  there  is  selfishness  ruling  there. 

When  I  speak  of  religion,  I  mean  this :  you  must,  and  so  must  I,  so  live 
and  act,  as  to  desire,  in  your  inmost  souls,  in  all  you  think,  speak  and  do, 
to  become  absolutely  pure,  true,  just  and  good ;  and  having  that  desire, 
make  use  of  all  the  light  in  your  power,  and,  seeing  what  is  right,  do  it, 
cost  what  it  may.  This  kind  of  vitality,  this  kind  of  earnestness,  this  kind 
of  reform,  I  need,  to  make  me  an  Abolitionist,  a  Temperance  man,  a  friend 
to  the  poor  Indian ;  to  make  me  a  Peace  man,  to  cause  me  to  be  up  and 
doing  in  every  work  where  humanity  calls  for  labor,  because  my  heart  will 
go  out  with  all  its  strength  and  power  to  give  expression  to  that  principle 
of  love  in  the  soul. 

We  talk  about  being  under  the  influence  of  sympathy,  and  we  are  ap- 
pealed to,  by  the  sympathy  that  stirs  our  hearts  at  the  spectacle  of  human 
suffering,  to  do  thus  and  so.  I  seek  a  deeper,  a  holier,  a  more  substantial 
love  than  can  be  based  on  sympathy.  I  want  a  love  as  deep  as  the  love  of 
God,  as  unchangeable  and  immutable  ;  I  want  a  justice  in  my  soul  based 
upon  my  belief  of  the  eternal  relation  of  all  things  ;  I  want  a  purity  in  my 


EDUCATION.  133 

soul  that  shall  lead  me  to  go  unblushingly  before  my  Heavenly  Father ;  that 
shall  teach  me  to  keep  within  me  a  clean  heart ;  to  purge  me  as  with 
hyssop,  that  I  may  be  clean.  That  is  the  spirit  I  want,  and  that  I  call  Re- 
ligion ;  you  may  call  it  what  you  please. 

I  agree  with  my  friend  Foster,  and  thank  the  man  who  points  out  the 
blemish  he  wants  to  rub  off.  The  man  who  points  out  my  error  is  my  best 
friend.  The  question  is  often  asked,  whether  a  man  is  saved  by  works  or 
by  faith.  When  I  work  in  reference  to  the  gain  I  am  to  obtain,  whether 
in  escaping  hell  or  winning  heaven,  I  am  working  on  a  selfish  basis,  and 
not  from  the  highest  and  holiest  aspirations  of  my  soul.  What  I  want  is 
this,  to  keep  my  eye  upon  my  own  soul ;  see  what  rules  there  ;  see  whether 
truth,  purity,  and  justice  are  absolute  in  me,  or  whether  I  can  be  induced  to 
sell  them  for  power  or  for  gold.  If  truth,  purity,  and  justice  are  enthroned 
within  me,  then,  when  I  come  into  rapport  with  my  Father  in  heaven,  I  can 
lie  down  and  sleep  and  rise  up  and  work ;  I  must  work ;  I  die  if  I  do  not 
work  ;  because  the  Divine  in  me  must  work  in  and  through  me. 

Mr.  Sprague.  I  claim  to  be  brother  Tiffany's  best  friend,  according  to 
his  own  definition;  [laughter]  and  therefore  oppose  his  resolution  dis- 
tinctly. My  first  objection  is,  that  I  do  not  like  its  having  been  offered  as  a 
substitute  for  a  resolution  before  the  Convention.  Perhaps  a  majority  of 
the  Convention  want  both  these  resolutions.  Let  us,  then,  not  kill  one, 
by  the  introduction  of  this,  so  entirely  different.  My  second  objection  is, 
that  the  amendment  is  meaningless,  and  his  confessions  to  this  are  abundant. 
In  the  first  place,  he  tells  us  that  reform  must  be. based  upon  religion  ;  and 
then  he  asks  us  to  tell  him  what  religion  is.  Now,  if  he  did  not  know  what 
religion  was,  to  say  that  reform  is  based  upon  religion,  is  to  say  what  he  is 
not  authorized  to  say.  When  he  can  clearly  explain  to  me  what  religion  is ; 
then  how  reform  is  based  upon  that  religion ;  then  how  we  are  to  place  this 
instead  of  free  trade,  —  then  I  shall  be  prepared  to  support  his  amendment ; 
but  not  until  then. 

Mr.  TooHEY  offered  the  following  preamble  and  resolution :  — 

Whereas,  Isolation  and  antagonism  tend  towards  and  beget  egotism  ;  and,  whereas, 
most  of  the  systems  of  education  now  in  vogue  are  fragmentary  in  conception,  and 
defective  in  natural  method  ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  we  recommend  the  facts  and  principles  of  physiology  and  phrenology 
as  fundamental  to  the  science  of  life  and  a  unitary  education ;  both  of  which  demand  the 
emancipation  of  the  body  from  the  bondage  of  disease  and  sickness,  that  the  mind  may 
be  the  more  effectually  freed  from  ignorance  and  error. 

Mr.  T.  advocated  the  resolution.  He  said :  —  Mr.  Chairman,  in  the 
conventions  and  associations  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  attend,  I  have 
found  the  same  difficulty  to  characterize  them  which  we  have  here  encoun- 
tered, —  a  difficulty  prolific  of  dislike  and  discord,  —  owing  to  the  difference 
of  education  and  local  prejudice.  This  naturally  tends  towards  conflict  and 
begets  antagonism,  developing  feelings  and  passions,  that  have,  in  one  form 
or  another,  lived  through  the  "  conflict  of  the  ages,"  and  the  "  battle  of  the 
churches." 

In  order  to  meet  this  necessity,  and  correct  the  resultant  state  of  things, 
it  occurred  to  the  speaker  to  draft  the  resolution  read  in  your  hearing,  affirm- 
ative of  facts  and  principles,  all  of  which  outline,  if  they  do  not  authorize, 
a  reliable  and  unitary  Anthropology  —  the  science  of  man  and  woman. 

This  will  combine  the  various  views  and  methods  of  the  past — of  history 
and  life  —  thereby  doing  justice  to  all.  It  seems  to  me  we  are  now  simply 
beating  the  air,  and  must  continue  to  do  so,  so  long  as  we  continue  to  be 


134  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

destructive  and  partial  rather  than  constructive  and  catholic  in  our  philoso- 
phy. In  fact,  it  becomes  a  matter  of  astonishment,  when  we  remember 
that  convention  after  convention  has  been  held,  in  which  men  talk  and  spec- 
ulate, criticize  and  condemn,  without  seriously  addressing  themselves  to  the 
affirmative  and  constructive  side  of  life ;  much  less  inquiring  into  the  scien- 
tific aspects  of  the  racers  development.  I  hope,  however,  the  time  will  come 
when  our  reform  meetings  will  ask.  Has  science  done  any  thing  for  the 
race's  progress  ?  Is  science  humanitarian  and  religious  ?  And  if  so,  can 
science  be  made  practical  in  developing  the  body  and  educating  the  mind  ? 
For  one,  I  believe  the  revelations  of  science  are  numerous  and  important, 
and  as  nature  is  plastic  to  the  all-conquering  mind  of  man,  they  must  con- 
tinue to  accumulate,  and,  sooner  or  later,  be  made  the  basis  of  intellectual, 
moral,  and  social  philosophy.  Let  them,  therefore,  be  recognized  by  all 
reformers  and  the  friends  of  human  progress. 

These  thoughts,  Mr.  Chairman,  are  simply  introductory  to  some  reflec- 
tions I  wish  I  had  the  time  to  offer  in  full  on  the  physical  education  of 
the  young.  As  it  is,  I  can  but  recommend  the  statement  of  the  resolution, 
asking  for  it  an  attentive  reading.  I  am  not,  in  saying  this,  vindicating  the 
speculative  views  of  physiologists  or  phrenologists,  but  recommending  the 
facts  and  principles  of  these  departments  of  science,  as  they  authorize  a 
thorough  and  more  practical  education  —  that  our  boys  may  in  time  become 
men,  as   our  girls  women. 

By  my  experience  as  a  boy,  I  know  what  the  sufferings  of  boyhood  are, 
and  wish  I  had  the  time  to  say  what  my  soul  feels  on  the  subject ;  for  they 
are  in  many  cases  the  victims  of  popular  ignorance  and  public  opinion.  It 
cannot  well  be  otherwise,  so  long  as  society  remains  ignorant  of  the  laws  of 
life,  and  the  relations  which  physiological  education  sustain  to  human  and 
spiritual  culture. 

Believing  in  the  proper  education  of  the  young,  I  appeal  to  you  for  them, 
that  they  may  not  receive  the  whippings,  aye,  the  raw-hidings,  it  has  been 
my  fortune  to  get  during  boyhood.  I  ask  for  them  a  more  convenient 
avenue  of  communication,  and  a  more  agreeable  medium  for  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  memory  and  the  acquiring  of  knowledge  than  a  closely  confined 
schoolroom,  with  occasional  punishments  from  the  toe  of  the  boot  or  the 
back  of  the  hand. 

I  knew  these  forms  of  so-called  correction  are  fast  becoming  obsolete ; 
but  they  are  still  sufficiently  popular  to  merit  attention,  and  particularly  so, 
in  families  where  health  of  system  and  strength  of  constitution  make  the 
boy  and  girl  occasionally  rude  and  troublesome. 

This  is  a  different  class  from  the  boys  of  putty  and  the  girls  of  dough  we 
meet  with  in  the  every-day  relations  of  life ;  a  class  of  boys  and  girls  with 
nuh  in  them  ;  who,  having  within  them  the  elements  of  a  noble  and  a  heroic 
manhood  and  womanhood,  manifest  character,  and  are  therefore  called  pests, 
and  often  become  the  plagues  of  the  family.  This  fact  should  be  recognized 
and  borne  in  mind,  for  nearly  every  man  or  woman,  who  has  towered  head 
and  shoulders  above  their  fellows  in  the  ages,  have  become  distinguished  by 
ignoring,  rather  than  following,  the  education  of  the  times.  They  too  often 
have  been  truants  from  school,  and  heretics  to  the  social  custom  that  sent  them 
there.  True,  they  may  not  be  commended  for  this,  the  more  as  they  often 
have  nearly  driven  their  mothers  crazy,  and  sent  their  fathers  to  lunatic 
asylums. 

If,  however,  we  would  avoid  such  natural  results,  we  must  correct  the  de- 
fects of  an  ww-natural  education,  by  creating  institutions  of  learning  and 


EDUCATION.  135 

methods  of  culture  truly  calculated  to  develop  the  body  and  harmonize  the 
mind.  I  know  we  have  few,  if  any,  of  this  class  in  society  at  present ;  but 
I  hope  the  better  Genius  of  the  Age  will  soon  inspire  the  benevolent  and 
philanthropic  to  establish  such  reform  schools.  I  plead  for  them,  in  the 
name  of  humanity,  in  the  name  of  the  great  future,  whose  glory  is  over 
us  —  as  we  are  legislating  for  the  one  and  creating  the  other  —  in  these  and 
similar  Conventions.  I  plead,  since  the  deficiency  is  made  manifest,  that 
the  defect  may  be  supplied.  And  I  am  happy  to  say,  in  this  connection, 
that  an  effort  has  been  made  in  New  York  State  to  modify  the  popular  system 
of  schooling,  so  that  instead  of  sitting  six  hours  a  day,  three  only  shall  be 
spent  in  study ;  the  rest  being  devoted  to  well-directed  physical  exercise 
und  social  recreation.  You  may  ask  —  Why  this  change  ?  Simply  beause, 
as  the  child  is  father  to  the  man,  all  neglect  or  misdirection  of  the  former 
brings  sad  and  evil  consequences  to  the  latter ;  because  no  child  can  sit  six 
hours  per  day,  day  after  day,  week  after  week,  with  impunity.  The  proof 
of  this  is  in  the  pale,  flabby,  defective  beings  we  have  around  us.  In  fact, 
you  hardly  find  blood  enough  in  a  man's  body  now-a-days  to  sustain  the  im- 
pulse or  inspiration  that  would  prompt  him  to  shake  hands.  Indeed,  I 
might  ask,  without  becoming  impertinent,  who  thinks  of  shaking  hands  in 
a  warm,  friendly  way  ?  Few  —  for  the  popular  form  is  a  species  of  jerk, 
more  resembling  the  gesture  of  a  pump-handle,  than  the  warm  greeting  of 
an  earnest  and  loving  heart.  [Laughter.]  Need  I  ask,  therefore,  why  the 
friendly  embrace  is  unfashionable,  and  the  tender  caress  neglected  ?  No ! 
for  it  must  be  self-evident,  on  a  little  reflection,  that  the  affections  and  the 
passions  must  die  out,  when  the  health  is  defective  and  the  blood  watery. 
Never  was  saying  more  true,  than  when  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  remarked  — 
"  Give  me  health  and  a  crust,  and  I  will  give  you  inspiration."  The  opposite 
of  this,  however,  is  true  of  us  in  most  particulars  ;  for  arms  and  legs  have, 
for  the  most  part,  gone  out  of  use  —  only  as  the  former  aid  in  ornamenting 
the  body  and  feeding  the  face,  and  the  latter  carries  the  owner  to  the  near- 
est railroad  depot  or  omnibus.  Pedestrianism,  running,  walking,  wrestling, 
swimming,  and  all  the  physical  exercises  for  which  the  ancients  were  far 
mous,  by  us,  in  this  fast  age,  are  forgotten  or  ignored. 

This  should  be  altered  altogether,  that  every  part  of  the  muscular  system 
may  receive  a  systematic  and  symmetrical  cultivation.  Art,  speaking  in  the 
name  of  beauty,  demands  it ;  humanity  implores  it,  and  the  genius  of  pro- 
gress commands  that  custom  give  place  to  wisdom;  theory  to  practice; 
that  indolence  and  inactivity  may  be  swallowed  up  in  bodily  health  and 
spiritual  earnestness. 

Again  :  Much  has  been  said  to-day  about  religion  —  abstract  and  meta- 
physical ;  but  can  you  find,  or  do  you  expect  to  get,  religion  in  sickness  ? 
If  you  do,  you  should  not,  for  they  are  antagonistic  to,  and  inconsistent  with, 
each  other.  You  may,  indeed,  find  a  person  enjoying  the  sentiment  of  de- 
votion while  prostrate  on  the  bed  of  sickness,  but  all  such  piety  and  religion 
is  isolated  from,  and  exceptional  to,  the  practical  relations  and  duties  of  life. 
I  know  the  value  of  suffering,  as  an  element  of  culture,  and  the  good  that  at 
times  springs  from  it ;  but  the  man  who  magnifies  sickness  per  se  into  a  di- 
rect manifestation  of  God  for  the  correction  of  the  individual,  is  not  only 
ignorant  of  the  philosophy  of  the  age  and  the  revelations  of  physiology,  but 
he  teaches  a  theory  at  once  injurious  to  society  and  the  individual. 

I  recommend  physiology  and  phrenology,  therefore,  as  the  right  hand  and 
left  hand  gospel  of  physical  and  practical  life,  believing  that  the  time  is  not 
far  distant,  when  science  and  religion  will  go  hand-in-hand  for  the  healing 


136  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

of  the  nations.  And  let  this  be  our  consolation  and  answer,  when  asked  for 
the  corrective  remedy  for  existing  physical  evils. 

Elder  Grant.  I  am  here  as  the  friend  of  all  present.  Wherein  I  dif- 
fer from  others,  I  wish  to  differ  in  kindness.  I  profess  to  be  a  reformer, 
like  others ;  I  profess  to  be  a  Christian  reformer ;  and  perhaps  I  am  the 
only  one  upon  the  stand  who  firmly  believes  the  Bible ;  I  do  not  know  that 
this  is  so,  but  I  am  not  ashamed  to  declare  before  the  congregation,  that  I 
believe  the  Bible.  I  am  here,  on  a  general,  kind,  impartial  invitation  to 
hear  the  different  advocates  of  reform,  and  if  I  do  not  agree  with  them,  to 
state  my  objections  in  kindness';  and  I  think,  sir,  it  is  no  more  than  fair 
that  those  who  believe  in  the  Bible  and  in  Christianity  should  have  an  op- 
portunity to  advocate  the  Christian  religion  and  the  Bible,  and  the  God  of 
the  Bible.     Hence  I  speak  a  word. 

We  have  been  told  this  morning  that  Spiritualism  embraces  all  reforms. 
If  this  be  so,  and  it  is  a  true  system  of  reform,  I  wish  to  join  the  Spiritual- 
ists. I  am  not  a  religious  bigot ;  to  such  a  charge,  I  plead  "  Not  guilty." 
I  love  liberty  and  justice,  in  their  broadest  sense.  I  was  much  pleased  with 
the  remarks  of  my  friend  Tiffany.  I  believe  in  all  true  reform,  all  true  re- 
ligion. I  do  not  care  much  how  you  put  it ;  if  true  reform,  it  is  embraced 
in  true  religion  ;  true  religion  is  embraced  in  true  reform.  I  like  the  Bible 
definition  of  it  very  well: — "Pure  and  undefiled  religion  is"  —  what  is 
it?  —  "to  visit  the  fatherless  and  the  widow  in  their  afiiiction,  and  live  un- 
spotted from  the  world."  I  think  Mr.  Tiffany  will  not  demur  to  this 
definition. 

The  worth  of  a  reform  and  its  importance  depend  upon  its  doctrines  and 
its  practices.  In  resolution  number  five,  we  read  ;  —  "  Resolved,  That  the 
only  true  and  natural  marriage  is  an  exclusive  conjugal  love  between  one 
man  and  one  woman,  and  that  the  only  true  home  is  the  isolated  home,  based 
upon  this  exclusive  love."  This  reads  well ;  but  there  is  a  point  which  I 
intended  to  introduce  yesterday,  which  I  will  now  bring  out,  in  connection 
with  a  part  of  resolution  number  three  —  "that  the  conviction  of  the 
possibility  and  actuality  of  spirit  intercourse  is  opposed  to  all  despotism, 
impurity  and  sensualism,  and  conduces  to  the  inauguration  of  the  only  au- 
thority consistent  with  the  human  soul,  and  favorable  to  sound  morality." 
Now,  sir,  let  us  remember  the  resolution  concerning  marriage,  which  I  have 
just  read,  and  I  asif.  What  constitutes  marriage  ?  When  is  the  time  of  my 
marriage  —  when  my  love  commences,  or  is  it  when  it  is  sanctioned  by  the 
proper  authorities?  Why,  you  all  know  what  constitutes  marriage.  I  read 
in  the  papers  —  "  Married  —  At  such  a  time,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  So-and-so." 
What  does  it  mean  ?  That  they  began  to  love  then  ?  No ;  they  loved 
long  before  that.  This  resolution  reads  —  "  The  only  true  and  natural  mar- 
riage is  an  exclusive  conjugal  love  between  one  man  and  one  woman." 
The  "  marriage  "  consists  in  the  "  love."  Perhaps  some  present  are  not 
aware  that  the  repeal  of  all  marriage  laws  is  recommended.  This  resolu- 
tion looks  to  that. 

I  ask  another  question.  If  I  am  married  according  to  the  common  cus- 
tom by  the  laws  of  the  state,  when  am  I  unmarried  ?  When,  by  legal 
action,  I  am  separated.  But  if  I  am  married  when  the  love  commences, 
when  am  I  unmarried  ?  When  the  love  ceases.  What  is  the  result  ?  I 
^can  go  and  choose  another  wife.  My  friend  Wright  tells  me  he  is  the 
•only  standard  for  himself,  and  will  admit  no  authority  from  God  or 
;man.  Well,  as  my  love  ceases  for  that  companion,  in  consequence  of  some 
mibfortune,  I  am  unmarried ;  because  I  was  married  when  the  love  began, 


EDUCATION.  137 

and  therefore,  when  that  love  ceases,  I  am  unmarried,  and  I  go  and  seek 
another. 

I  brought  out  this  point  yesterday,  and  stated  some  facts  that  were  called  in 
question.  I  will  repeat  them  again,  and  call  for  proof  to  the  contrary. 
One  of  the  lady  speakers  at  a  Spiritual  Convention  held  in  Ravenna,  Ohio, 
said  that  "  to  confine  her  love  to  one  man  was  an  infringement  of  her  rights." 
The  same  idea,  as  I  understand  it,  has  been  expressed  here.  "  Although 
she  had  one  husband  in  Cleveland,  she  considered  herself  married  to  the 
whole  human  race.  All  men  were  her  husbands,  and  she  had  an  undying 
love  for  them.  What  business  was  it  to  the  world  whether  one  man  was 
the  father  of  her  child  or  ten  men  ?  She  had  the  right  to  say  who  should 
be  the  father  of  her  offspring."  This,  sir,  is  carrying  out  most  legitimately 
that  resolution,  for  if  I  became  married  when  the  love  began,  when  the  love 
ceases,  as  love  constitutes  the  marriage,  I  am  unmarried,  and  may  choose 
another  companion,  and  so  on.     This  is  "  Free  Love." 

Again,  in  relation  to  doctrines,  I  ask,  What  are  the  doctrines  of  Spiritual- 
ism in  relation  to  the  creation  of  man  ?  We  have  a  philosophy  of  creation 
from  the  spirit  of  Thomas  Paine.  He  tells  us  that  man  was  made  or  sprang 
from  the  monad,  and  gradually  rose  up  until  he  became  man.  Our  Bible  de- 
clares that  God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of  the  ground.     Which  shall  I  believe  ? 

Another  point.  What  is  the  doctrine  of  Spiritualism  with  regard  to 
Deity  ?  "  God  is  not  a  person,"  says  the  spirit  of  Thomas  Paine,  "  but  a 
principle  ;  "  and  I  am  prepared  to  quote  from  others  w^ho  declare  that  God 
is  not  an  entity,  not  a  being,  but  a  principle  ;  consequently  God  does  not 
exist  as  a  being  any  more  than  the  law  of  attraction,  which  brings  the  apple 
to  the  ground. 

Mr.  Storer.  I  have  thought  that  perhaps  it  would  be  well  to  oflPer  a 
few  remarks  upon  the  resolution  now  before  the  Convention ;  —  the  one 
proposed  by  friend  Tiffany ;  and  I  would  speak  upon  that  portion  of  it 
which  bases  reform  upon  religion.  I  agree  with  both  parties  in  this  discussion. 
I  infer  that,  inasmuch  as  all  things  are  progressive  in  nature,  there  must  be 
constant  reformations  going  forward,  owing  entirely  to  this  religious  law, 
that  outworks  through  them ;  hence,  that  in  order  to  come  up  to  my  most 
intimate  relations  with  the  infinite,  I  must  undergo  a  series  of  reformations, 
which  have  taken  place  in  me  from  the  time  I  was  conceived,  or  from  the 
time  I  was  brought  into  this  objective  world.  I  look  also  upon  these  grand 
old  mountains  as  being  under  the  same  laws  ;  I  look  upon  these  great  masses 
of  vapor,  that  are  piling  their  aerial  summits  above  these  green  hills,  and  I 
recognize  the  fact  that  they,  too,  obey  the  same  laws  to  which  I  owe  allegi- 
ance.    Hence,  there  is  a  religion  peculiar  to  them  and   peculiar  to  myself. 

Perhaps  it  may  appear  to  some  that  man  does  not  yield  that  allegiance  to 
his  nature  that  these  mountains  do.  Why  ?  Because  of  his  will ;  because 
it  rests  with  him,  by  his  own  interior  promptings  to  decide  how  long  it  shall 
be  before  he  makes  those  progressive  strides  that  will  bring  him  into  a  reali- 
zation of  his  highest  and  best. 

Now,  when  I  look  upon  men  engaged  in  the  various  branches  of  reform, 
I  look  upon  them  as  engaged  in  one  common  work,  to  bring  men  up  from  a 
lower  to  a  higher  position.  But  the  point  at  which  I  desire  you  to  look  is, 
that  each  individual  soul  must  work  according  to  the  promptings  of  his  own 
religious  nature  ;  he  cannot  be  governed  by  any  that  pertain  to  these 
mountains,  or  to  these  vapory  forms  we  see  above  us ;  he  is  responsible  to 
those  promptings  of  his  own  nature,  that  he,  as  an  individual,  holds  to  the 
Infinite  Author  of  all;    consequently,  sir,  although  he  may  compare  his 


138  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

religious  promptings  with  those  of  other  men,  yet  he  must  make  other  men's 
rehgious  convictions  his  own,  before  he  can  act  justly  in  them.  He  cannot 
yield  to  authority ;  but  he  may  and  must  investigate  the  opinions  of  all 
others,  and  so  far  as  they  conform  to  his  own  convictions,  so  far  can  he 
act  upon  them.  And  this  is  what  I  mean  by  individual  authority.  It  is  not 
an  authority  that  takes  away  from  man  his  liberty ;  but  it  is  an  authority 
that  unites  him  to  another.  My  religious  promptings  bring  me  into  relation 
with  God  ;  but  I  can  only  know  God  as  the  embodiment  of  the  highest  idea 
of  justice  and  goodness  which  I  can  conceive,  through  the  feelings  and 
reason.  Hence,  you  bring  before  me  the  God  to  whom  our  brother  Grant 
yields  obedience,  —  the  God  revealed  in  the  Bible,  as  I  understand,  the 
God  of  Moses,  and  the  same  God,  we  are  told,  the  God  of  Jesus  of  Nazar- 
eth ;  I  see  such  discrepancies  in  his  character,  that  I  cannot  accept  him  as 
a  unitary  being.  I  say,  the  God  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  God  of  my 
own  soul  in  the  nineteenth  century,  with  all  the  light  that  I  can  obtain  con- 
cerning him,  is  the  God  I  worship,  and  the  God  to  whom  my  religious  na- 
ture owns  allegiance. 

Whence  comes  the  wrong  done  to  the  individual  ?  Is  it  not  in  violating 
the  convictions  of  your  highest  and  best  ?  and  is  there  an  individual  here 
who  can  assert  that  he  has  never  sinned  against  his  highest  and  best  con- 
victions ?  If  there  is,  then  is  there  one  here  who  needs  no  repentance ; 
then  is  there  one  here  who  does  not  feel  the  promptings  of  higher  aspira- 
tions. But  I  do  not  beheve  it.  You  all  acknowledge  that  you  have  sinned; 
and  although  you  may  have  been  taught,  theoretically,  that  there  'is  no  sin, 
yet  the  intuitive  perceptions  of  man  tell  him  that  he  does  not  do  as  well 
as  he  can,  and  he  is  prompted  to  become  pure,  and  to  yield  allegiance  to  all 
the  demands  of  his  nature,  as  that  nature  and  the  good  of  his  fellow-man 
require.  I  therefore  hail  those  who  believe  in  faith,  which  I  term  religion ; 
and  I  hail  those  who  engage  in  works,  which  I  believe  in  as  the  offspring 
of  faith.  I  hope  to  be  saved  through  faith,  that  brings  me  in  relation  to 
God,  and  through  works,  that  enable  me  to  take  hold  on  man,  and  lift  him 
also  to  God.     [Applause.] 

The  following  resolution  on  the  Education  of  the  Young  was  then  read: 

Resolved,  That  the  greater  portion  of  the  evils,  miseries,  and  crimes  existing  in  so- 
ciety, arise  either  directly  or  indirectly  from  radical  defects  in  our  systems  of  instruction; 
and  that  it  is  the  duty  of  every  friend  of  permanent  reform  to  direct  their  first  and  best 
efforts  to  the  moral,  physical,  and  spiritual  development  of  the  young,  upon  a  broader 
basis  of  personal  and  entire  religious  freedom. 

The  usual  hour  of  adjournment  (twelve  o'clock)  having  arrived,  Mr. 
Foster  moved  that  the  forenoon  session  be  continued  one  hour,  which  mo- 
tion was  carried. 

On  motion  of  Mrs.  Farnham,  the  ten  minutes'  rule  was  suspended. 

J.  L.  D.  Otis,  of  Marlow,  N.  H.,  was  then  introduced,  and  spoke  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

ADDRESS  OF  J.  L.  D.  OTIS. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  —  I  stand  before  you  to-day  as  a 
delegate  from  the  New  Hampshire  Spiritual  Union  Association.  My  name 
has  been  given  to  the  Spiritualists  of  the  country  as  a  new  convert,  and  I 
wish  to  tell  you  to  what  I  am  a  convert,  and  from  what  I  am  a  convert. 

I  have  been,  for  the  last  eighteen  years,  at  the  head  of  various  scientific 
and  literary  institutions ;  I  have  belonged  to  that  class  of  religionists  who 


EDUCATION.  139 

denominate  themselves  Methodists  ;  and  I  come  up  here  to-day  as  a  Bible 
man,  a  Bible  Spiritualist.  I  come  up  here,  if  I  may  so  express  myself,  to 
be  another  defender,  with  brother  Miles  Grant  (for  I  can  call  him  a 
brother),  of  the  Bible.  But  I  do  not  come  up  to  be  a  defender  of  "  the 
letter"  only,  "  which  killeth,"  but  of  "  the  spirit,"  which  "maketh  alive." 
[Applause.]  And  yet,  within  the  last  few  weeks,  throughout  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  Methodist  kingdom,  there  has  gone  out  the  cry,  that  I 
have  become  an  infidel ;  and  I  suppose  my  brother  Grant  will  call  me  an 
infidel.  Why  ?  Because  I  do  not,  never  did,  and  never  can,  believe  that 
my  Father,  who  is  a  perfect  being,  a  perfect  God,  ever  found  it  necessary 
to  violate  his  laws,  in  order  that  this  world  might  be  created,  and  the  things 
that  are  therein.  I  take  the  spirit  of  the  Bible.  I  believe  tliat  God  is  a 
Spirit ;  that  man  is  a  part  of  the  Infinite  Eternal  One,  and  that  his  spirit  is 
created  in  the  image  and  likeness  of  the  Father,  and  not  the  poor,  frail,  de- 
caying casket.  I  am  called  an  infidel,  then,  because  I  do  not  believe  that  a 
perfect  God  ever  made  a  perfect  law,  and  then  found  it  necessary,  as  an 
omnipotent  being,  to  violate  that  law,  for  the  sake  of  carrying  out  his  de- 
signs among  men,  or  on  the  face  of  any  of  his  planets  and  revolving  systems. 
I  believe  that  God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  as  my  brother 
A.  J.  Davis  believes  it,  —  as  he  has  said  to  us,  out  of  a  mass  of  matter 
which  is,  like  God,  eternal,  —  by  natural  laws,  and  caused  the  revolving 
worlds  each  to  assume  its  appointed  place,  and  perform  its  appointed  revo- 
lutions; and  I  believe  the  seven  periods  of  time  spoken  of  in  the  first  chap- 
ter of  Genesis  may  well  each  have  been  sixty  million  of  ages,  for  we  read 
in  that  good  book  which  you  and  I  believe,  that  one  day  is  with  the  Lord  as 
a  thousand  j^ears,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day.  Why,  then,  may  not 
sixty  million  of  ages  have  been  as  one  day,  so  long  as  it  is  but  one  period 
of  time  ?  I  am  called  an  infidel  because  I  will  not  accept  the  letter  of  the 
Bible.  I  am  called  an  infidel  because  I  believe  God  is  just  what  he  says 
he  is  ;  just  what  all  Nature  proclaims  him  to  be,  —  perfect  in  goodness,  per- 
fect in  love,  infinite  in  power ;  because  I  do  not  believe  that  that  God  — 
that  merciful,  that  kind,  that  glorious  God  —  ever  did  or  ever  will  com- 
mand the  sun  to  stand  still,  that  man  may  protract  the  hours  of  butchery. 
[Applause.] 

But  I  rise,  Mr.  President,  to  speak  upon  a  resolution  that  has  reference 
to  the  educational  interests  of  our  country.  I  believe  in  all  these  great 
reforms  which  have  been  so  ably  advocated  here,  in  this  great  throbbing 
ocean  of  mind,  into  which  I  am  willing  to  cast  my  pebble,  in  the  hope  that 
a  little  ripple  shall  be  made  that  shall  bear  some  fragment  to  the  shore  of 
practical  utility.  I  am  willing,  sir,  to  listen  to  other  reforms,  but  I  believe, 
in  my  soul,  that  this  Spiritual  movement  is  the  foundation  on  which  all  re- 
forms must  rest ;  for,  sir,  no  man  or  woman  can  be  a  true  Spiritualist  who 
does  not  believe,  in  all  sincerity,  in  the  total  abolition  of  all  slavery,  whether 
of  the  mind  or  the  body.  I  have  long  been  one  of  that  class  who  have 
labored  with  brother  Pillsbury,  and  I  regretted  to  hear  a  man  for  whom  I 
entertain  so  much  respect,  arise,  and  having  acknowledged  the  sincerity  of 
those  who  speak  in  favor  of  Spiritualism,  call  in  question  their  ability  to 
address  you.  I  regretted  it ;  and  while  I  honor  the  man,  and  honor  the 
work  in  which  he  is  engaged,  I  cannot  honor  that  feeling,  whether  expressed 
by  him  or  any  other,  which  would  make  this  any  other  than  a  perfectly  free 
Convention.  But,  sir,  these  things  are  to  be  expected  at  this  day.  Let  us 
read  the  resolution: — 


140  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

Resolved,  That  a  great  portion  of  the  evils,  miseries,  and  crimes  existing  in  society 
arise  either  directly  or  indirectly  from  radical  defects  in  our  systems  of  instruction. 

Here,  then,  lies  the  defect.  At  the  root  of  the  tree  lies  the  poison.  I  have 
been  a  teacher  long ;  and,  I  say  it  with  regret,  I  have  too  long  taught  the 
doctrine  of  emulation,  for  the  sake  of  excelling.  I  have  too  often,  with 
others,  been  into  the  schools  of  my  country,  and  said  to  the  little  boys  and 
girls  assembled  there,  "  Perhaps  here  is  the  future  Governor  of  New 
Hampshire,  the  future  President  of  the  United  States."  I  did  not  think,  as 
I  now  think,  that  T  was  thereby  cultivating  the  love  of  fame,  one  of  the 
basest  passions  that  actuate  the  human  mind.  I  did  not  think  I  was  train- 
ing those  boys  and  girls  in  a  way  that  would  lead  them  to  strive  to  rise  that 
they  might  put  their  feet  upon  the  neck  of  their  unsuccessful  brother  or 
sister ;  but  so  it  was,  and  you  know  it.  And  I  have  been  into  schools,  too, 
and  have  told  the  little  boys  and  girls,  "  You  must  study,  that  you  may  ac- 
quire knowledge,  and  when  you  grow  up  to  be  men  and  Atomen,  you  will 
thereby  acquire  wealth  ;  and  if  you  do  not,  you  will  have  to  be  hewers  of 
wood  and  drawers  of  water."  And  what  principle  of  selfishness  did  I 
thereby  inculcate  ?  Why,  avarice,  —  the  meanest  and  basest  of  human 
passions. 

Now,  as  my  time  is  limited,  I  will  say  but  one  word.  I  have  come  into 
new  light.  I  intend,  in  future,  when  I  go  among  little  boys,  or  big  ones  either, 
to  tell  them  they  must  do  right,  because  God  is  right ;  that  they  must  love 
each  other,  because  they  are  children  of  God ;  and  that  they  must  do  good, 
because  their  own  happiness  will  consist  in  doing  good.  I  have  restrained, 
in  a  measure,  (I  must  say  it,  though  I  have  tried  not  to  do  it,)  —  I  have  re- 
strained, in  a  measure,  those  under  my  charge  in  their  religious  belief. 
Hereafter,  I  shall  say  to  no  man,  to  no  child,  "  Know  the  Lord ; "  but  I  shall 
endeavor  to  teach  the  principles  of  universal  knowledge,  which  will  lead 
men  to  find  God  within  them,  and  through  them,  and  all  about  and  above 
them. 

It  is  the  duty  of  every  friend  of  harmonious  reform  to  direct  their  first 
and  best  efforts  to  the  moral,  physical,  and  spiritual  development  of  the 
young,  as  well,  it  may  be  said,  as  to  the  mental.  I  am  not  here  to  find 
fault  with  your  mental  systems  of  instruction,  but  with  your  physical  and 
moral  I  do.  We  are  about  establishing  in  New  Hampshire,  with  your 
assistance,  —  and  I  came  here  to  claim  it,  —  an  institution  for  the  dissemina- 
tion of  a  higher  and  more  glorious  system  of  education.  We  meet  at 
Claremont,  on  the  sixth  of  July  next ;  and  let  every  one  who  is  in  favor  of 
a  true  spiritual  development ;  every  one  who  is  in  favor  of  a  perfectly  anti- 
sectarian  education,  upon  the  broad  basis  here  laid  down,  —  entire  personal 
and  religious  freedom, — let  them  come,  and  hear  what  is  to  be  said  there  ; 
and  let  them  come  prepared  to  take  shares  in  that  stock,  and  thus  aid  in  the 
establishment  of  such  an  institution. 

I  am  glad  we  have  met  on  this  day ;  for  I  am  one  who  fears  not  to  con- 
secrate God's  holy  day  by  doing  good.  I  am  here  to  pull  the  sheep  out  of 
the  pit  into  which  it  has  fallen,  even  if  it  is  the  Sabbath  day.  I  will  close 
by  reading  another  resolution,  and  call  upon  Mrs.  Walker,  of  Burlington, 
to  second  it :  — 

Resolved,  That  our  sons  and  our  daughters  should  be  educated  upon  a  platform  of 
equality,  and  that  separate  schools  for  the  sexes  are  conducive  to  evil. 


EDUCATION.  141 

ADDRESS   OF   MRS.   D.  M.   F.   WALKER. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen :  —  It  is  with  the  greatest  pleasure 
that  I  rise  to  second  this  last  resolution.  Twenty-three  years  ago,  I  stepped 
upon  the  teachers'  jjlatform  ;  but  I  now  find  it  too  limited.  I  wish  for  one 
more  plank  in  that  platform.     Permit  me  to  read  this  resolution  again  :  — 

Resolved,  That  our  sons  and  our  daughters  should  be  educated  upon  a  platform  of 
equality,  and  that  separate  schools  for  the  sexes  are  conducive  to  evil. 

The  dollar  question — this  mighty  American  Dagon  —  has  come  in  be- 
tween us  and  the  light  of  truth  and  justice,  and  so  eclipsed  our  eyes,  that, 
when  about  to  educate  our  children,  we  ask  ourselves  this  question,  "  Will 
it  pay?  "  That  is,  will  they  be  enabled  to  make  money  by  it  ?  Hence,  we 
have  two  platforms  of  education,  one  for  our  sons,  and  another  for  our 
daughters.  For  the  time  has  not  been  when  it  would  "  pay,"  in  this  sense 
of  the  word,  to  educate  our  daughters.  But,  let  us  give  our  daughters  the 
same  mental  culture  which  we  give  our  sons,  and  the  time  is  not  distant 
when  it  will  "  pay."  Just  so  soon  as  woman  is  educated  to  fill  a  position, 
80  soon  will  new  and  higher  positions  be  left  vacant  for  her  to  fill ;  and  there 
is  no  danger  here,  that  woman  will  unsex  herself.  The  truly  educated 
woman  will  as  certainly  find  her  level  amid  the  whirl  of  society,  as  will 
water  find  its  level  in  the  ocean's  bed. 

In  our  opinion,  —  and  we  have  had  some  observation  and  experience  in 
this  matter,  —  it  is  a  great  mistake  to  separate  the  sexes  during  their  school- 
days. We  are  aware  that  we  are  stepping  on  forbidden  ground,  but  we 
speak  from  our  highest  convictions  of  truth.  Men  and  women  hold  a  God- 
given  relation  to  each  other  ;  they  were  designed  by  their  Creator  to  walk 
the  same  paths  of  life  together ;  their  joys  and  sorrows,  their  comforts  and 
cares  should  be  common  stock.  They  should  be  mutual  co-laborers  for  the 
good  of  mankind,  and  such  they  must  be  when  the  school-days  are  finished 
and  they  step  out  upon  the  platform  of  active,  real  life,  or  the  death-warrant 
to  all  progress  and  reform  is  sealed. 

But  oh,  how  unfitted  for  this !  Take  the  illustration  of  the  scissors,  to 
which  some  of  our  brothers  have  alluded.  Suppose  you  have  a  capitalist  here 
who  wished  to  invest  twenty  thousand  dollars  in  the  manufacture  of  scissors. 
With  one  half  the  money  he  builds  a  shop  here  at  Rutland,  puts  in  his  work- 
men, and  they  forge,  and  temper,  and  file,  and  polish,  and  finish  one  blade 
of  the  pair  of  scissors,  and  throw  it  into  a  box ;  with  the  other  ten  thousand 
dollars,  he  establishes  a  concern  in  Boston,  puts  in  his  workmen  there,  and 
they  go  on  and  forge,  and  file,  and  polish,  and  finish  the  other  blade,  and 
throw  it  into  a  box.  By  and  by  the  boxes  are  sent  to  Portland,  and  the 
blades  riveted  together.  Do  you  wonder  that  the  scissors  put  together  in 
that  way  do  not  cut?  [Applause.]  I  do  not.  But  that  is  the  way 
(pardon  me  for  saying  it,  but  it  is  my  experience,  and  it  is  only  by 
experience  that  we  arrive  at  the  truth,)  in  which  we  educate  our  sons  and 
our  daughters. 

Look  for  a  moment  at  the  education  of  our  daughters,  as  compared  with 
our  sons.  Hers  is  called  finished  before  she  has  arrived  at  the  stand-point 
which  would  honorably  admit  our  sons  to  college.  This  is  about  the  sum 
total  of  a  fashionable  female  boarding-school  education :  A  little  geography, 
a  little  history,  —  that  is,  she  gets  a  few  disconnected  facts  about  the  dis- 
coveries of  Columbus,  the  revolutionary  war,  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill, 
etc.,  packed  into  her  head  without  order ;  tastes  a  little  of  mathematics, 


142  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

which  she  generally  spits  out;  studies  botany  without  ever  dissecting  a 
flower ;  astronomy  till  she  cannot  tell  one  star  from  another,  or  read  under- 
standingly  the  common  almanac ;  gets  a  lisping  of  Italian  ;  a  smattering  of 
French  ;  goes  far  enough  in  Latin  to  decline  honiis  ;  writes  half  a  dozen 
compositions  on  "friendship,"  and  "home,"  "spring,"  "summer,"  and 
"  autumn ; "  indites  a  few  school-girl  epistles,  full  of  undying  affection  ; 
perpetrates  a  sonnet  to  a  moon-beam  or  a  butterfly;  practices  a  little  music; 
works  little  worsted  dogs  and  roses  on  footstools  ;  daubs  a  little  in  water 
colors  ;  receives  a  diploma ;  is  graduated,  and  then,  —  what  ?  Goes  home, 
to  "come  out,"  and  set  up  for  matrimony !     [Laughter  and  applause.] 

Now  we  ask,  in  all  soberness,  if  this  is  not  a  true  picture  ?  And  do  you 
wonder,  when  our  daughters  are  run  through  such  an  educational  mill,  that 
they  are  so  admirahly  fitted  to  be  helpmeets  for  men  in  all  the  sterner 
duties  and  realities  of  life  ?  We  say,  then,  the  separation  of  the  sexes  in 
our  schools  is  a  radical  defect  in  our  system  of  education.  One  of  the  most 
unruly,  unrefined  and  debased  schools  with  which  we  were  ever  connected, 
was  a  female  seminary  of  high  stamp,  in  a  large  New  England  city.  We 
know  there  are  exceptions,  and  we  say  not  this  to  cast  aspersions  on  female 
seminaries,  but  simply  to  show  the  legitimate  results  of  an  unnatural  system 
of  education.  Nothing  is  more  erroneous  than  the  idea  that  the  develop- 
ment of  unhallowed  passions  results  from  a  commingling  of  the  sexes  in  our 
institutions  of  learning.  Nothing  of  this  nature  need  be  feared,  while  their 
intercourse  is  governed  by  the  same  rules  of  etiquette  which  are  everywhere 
observable  in  good  society ;  on  the  contrary,  a  refining,  reforming  and  ele- 
vating influence  is  the  result.  It  is,  we  believe,  a  conceded  point,  that  no 
feature  in  college  life  is  more  disastrous  to  the  morals  of  young  men,  than 
the  monastic  one,  and  many  a  man  is  bankrupt  here,  before  his  collegiate 
course  is  finished.  Whoever  lives  to  see  the  day  when  our  college  doors, 
our  law  and  medicine  schools,  and  all  our  higher  institutions  of  learning,  are 
thrown  open  alike  to  our  sons  and  daughters,  when  each  shall  walk  into  our 
temples  of  science  arm-in-arm  under  the  same  archway,  each  stand  side  by 
side  on  the  same  rostrum,  will  see  the  dawning  of  a  millennial  morn  in 
education  and  morals. 

One  thought  more,  and  I  am  done.  This  element  of  aimlessness  of  pur- 
pose, in  female  education,  shuts  down  on  her  soul  like  an  incubus,  paralyzing 
all  effort,  and  cramping  all  energy.  How  can  our  daughters  become 
scholars,  without  an  object  in  view  worthy  of  this  effort  ?  For  what  are 
they  educated  ?  Echo  answers,  "  What  ?"  They  are  educated  for  no  place 
in  particular,  hence  they  will  have  none.  Give  woman  her  rights,  on  the 
same  platform  with  man,  and  she  will  have  an  object ;  educate  her,  and 
she  will  have  her  rights.  The  two  are  inseparably  connected  —  the  object 
and  the  motive  to  scholarship  —  and  mutually  react  upon  each  other. 

This  aimless  education,  without  length,  breadth,  or  depth,  will  never 
develope  woman's  powers.  She  should  be  taught  to  know  her  own  strength, 
and  no  longer  be  considered  a  minus  quantity.  We  have  been  in  the  rule 
of  subtraction  long  enough  ;  it  is  quite  time  the  signs  were  changed  back  to 
their  original  value.  [Applause.]  Give  us  an  education  which  shall  fit  us 
to  become  mothers,  and  the  educators,  the  drawers-out  and  developers  of 
the  mental  resources  of  coming  generations.  We  need,  and  we  must  have, 
for  our  girls  a  more  vigorous,  more  practical  education  ;  one  that  shall 
develope  strength  and  resolution  of  character,  shall  give  expansion  to  the 
mind,  power  to  the  will,  ambition  to  tike  hope,  purpose  to  the  soul,  and 
energy  to  the  life.     [Loud  applause.] 


SPIRITUALISM.  148 

A  song  was  then  sung  by  the  Harmonial  Club,  after  which  the  Conven- 
tion adjourned,  to  meet  at  two  o'clock,  p.m. 

AFTERNOON   SESSION. 

The  Convention  was  called  to  order  at  two  o'clock  by  the  President. 
Andrew  Jackson  Davis,  of  New  York,  took  the  platform,  and  read 
the  following  resolutions  : — 

WTtereas,  the  historical  fact  is  undeniable  that  novel  signs  and  mysterious  manifesta- 
tions have  l)een  intimately  associated  with  the  inception  and  subsequent  inauguration  of 
every  moral  dispensation,  therefore — 

Resoived,  That  we  hospitably  welcome  all  the  well-ascertained  phenomena  of  so-called 
modern  Spiritualism,  and  cordially  commend  them  to  the  careful  and  candid  investiga- 
tion of  the  truth-loving  and  intelligent.     Furthermore, — 

Resolved,  That,  while  publicly  avowing  our  unqualified  confidence  in  such  well-ascer- 
tained phenomena,  as  being  both  timely  indications  of  a  New  Era  and  evidences  of  a 
higher  existence,  we  at  the  same  time  proclaim  them  (the  facts  of  Spiritualism)  as  neither 
supernatural  nor  miraculous,  but  as  beautiful  operations  and  legitimate  developments 
of  man's  spiritual  constitution. 

SPEECH  OF  A.  J.  DAVIS. 

I  do  not  purpose,  Mr.  President,  to  occupy  much  time  in  the  discussion 
of  these  resolutions,  but  it  seems  to  me  to  be  an  undeniable  historical  fact, 
that,  intimately  associated  with  all  religious  dispensations,  have  been  certain 
spiritual  awakenings ;  a  certain  fertilization  of  the  religious  and  spiritual 
sentiments  of  mankind  ;  also,  that  in  keeping  with  such  fertilization  and  such 
exaltation  of  feeling,  there  have  been  external  manifestations,  showing  the 
working  of  interior  causes,  potential  and  intelligent.  I  say,  that  is  the  un- 
deniable historic  fact.  The  Genius  of  Human  History  presides  over  all 
human  judgment ;  and  when  we  arrogate  any  skepticism  against  that 
testimony,  we  have  not  only  the  laws  of  nature  to  contend  with,  but  the 
concurrent  convictions  of  all  good  men  and  women,  from  the  foundations  of 
human  history,  to  this  hour.  It  is  an  undeniable  historic  fact,  that  when 
any  old  dispensation  retires  from  the  stage,  a  new  one  is  heralded  by  certain 
notifications  that  strike  the  senses ;  that  act  directly  upon  the  external  and 
internal  nature  of  man  ;  that  rouse  his  intellectual  and  moral  nature  to  an 
apprehension  of  principles,  by  and  through  what,  in  their  ignorance,  men 
have  called  "  miracles,"  or  the  mysterious  operations  of  yet  more  mysterious 
and  distant  agents.  It  is  our  happiness,  in  this  age  and  day  of  the  world, 
to  discover  that  it  is  not  mysterious  or  supernatural  action  on  the  part  of 
any  external  agents,  but  that  it  is  the  general,  the  inevitable  operation  of 
that  vigorous  vital  force  within  the  constitution  of  our  nature,  which  testifies 
not  only  of  the  vast  past  of  man,  but  at  the  same  time  stands  prophetic  on 
the  summit  of  all  human  hope  and  reason,  the  indication  of  a  certain  and 
glorious  future.  This  force  is  what  religious  people  call  God  ;  it  is  what 
intelligent  people  call  the  law  of  nature ;  it  is  what  the  scientific  man  calls 
the  natural  proclivity  of  humanity;  it  is  what  the  historian  calls  the 
testimony  of  God  speaking  through  human  history.  And  in  all  sections 
of  human  history,  the  historic  fact  is,  that  as  one  dispensation  retires  from 
the  stage  of  action,  another  is  introduced,  I  say,  by  these  various  external 
indications. 

For  example :  When  Pythagoras  felt  his  power,  and  the  people  heard 
that  power,  then  came  the  conviction,  not  only  to  his  mind,  but  simultane- 


14:4  THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

ously  into  the  minds  of  those  in  that  region  of  the  world,  that  Pythagoras 
was  the  begotten  of  the  gods ;  that  his  inspiration  was  not  strictly  mundane ; 
that  it  was  not,  strictly  speaking,  religiously  supernatural,  but  that  it  was 
something  which,  in  these  days,  we  call  spiritual.  And  from  the  days  of 
Confucius  to  the  days  of  Theodore  Parker,  there  is  an  unbroken  chain  of 
human  conviction,  rising  mountain  high  above  all  the  analysis  of  the  high- 
est reason,  in  favor  of  that  primitive  and  simple  conviction  of  the  mind  of 
man. 

You  will  understand  that  Moses,  as  a  man,  as  a  historic  personage,  might 
be  questioned ;  that  his  existence  might  be  made  a  matter  of  controversy  ; 
but,  as  Mr.  Mayo  said,  in  such  chaste,  and  beautiful,  and  explicit  language, 
there  is,  beside  the  question  of  the  person,  an  undeniable  historic  daguerreo- 
type in  human  history  of  some  such  work  in  our  nature  as  the  Mosaic  dis- 
pensation,— a  dispensation  of  force  ;  that  which  looks,  not  to  the  highest,  but 
to  the  ordinary  faculties  of  man  for  acceptation  and  demonstration.  Now, 
in  keeping  with  the  dispensation  called  the  Mosaic,  history  has  left  to  us  a 
record  of  actual  intercourse  said  to  have  been  experienced  between  those 
who  were  leading  that  age  and  the  agents  behind  the  clouds,  behind  or  above 
the  mountains,  beneath  the  vision  of  the  burning  bush.  No  matter  how 
crude  or  ridiculous  it  seems  to  the  outward  apprehension,  there  is  a  chain  of 
undeniable  concurrent  testimony,  which  not  only  harmonizes  with  all  con- 
temporaneous testimony  at  that  period,  but,  at  the  same  time,  which  is  en- 
dorsed by  all  such  history  among  the  Medes,  the  Persians,  the  Chaldeans, 
and  the  Phoenicians.  The  Greeks,  in  various  parts  of  that  country,  had 
the  same  kind  of  experience,  which  we  call,  in  these  days,  "  spiritual." 

Again,  when  the  personal  existence  of  Jesus  is  called  in  question,  we  are 
not  at  all  diverted  from  this  investigation,  nor  from  a  belief  in  the  vitality 
of  a  system  which  had  its  birth  at  that  age  of  the  world  ;  and  when  it  had 
its  birth,  there  came  sounds  and  signs,  and  various  manifestations,  which 
were  received  as  corroborative  of  the  grand  purposes  which  that  person,  and 
others  connected  with  him,  had  to  accomplish  for  the  benefit  of  mankind. 
Whether  they  were  mistaken  or  not  is  not  the  question ;  whether  Christian- 
ity is  a  consistent  system,  or  whether,  in  spirit,  it  is  merely  to  be  regarded 
as  beautiful,  is  not  the  question.  The  question  is,  whether  it  is  not  matter 
of  history,  that  when  that  system  came  into  existence,  there  were  manifesta- 
tions from  what  are  called  in  these  days  "  spiritual "  beings.  All  who  have 
investigated  this  question,  are  familiar  with  that  controversy.  They  know 
that  history  is  in  our  favor,  and  so  it  is.  When  we  come  to  think  of  Paul, 
or  Peter,  or  James,  or  John  on  the  isle  of  Patmos,  the  question  is  not 
whether  what  they  said  is  of  any  consequence  to  the  race  in  this  day  and 
age,  but  the  question  is,  whether  they  had  not  just  what  they  professed  to 
have  received,  —  inspiration  from  agents  once  inhabiting  the  world  but  now 
above  it.  They  say  they  had  ;  they  all  testify  to  it ;  and  it  harmonizes  with 
the  rest,  from  first  to  last. 

Again,  Martin  Luther  considered  his  strongest  impulse  to  revolution  to 
have  been  imparted  from  a  source  like  the  lightning  from  the  point  of  thin 
clouds.  Walking  in  the  fields,  contemplating  those  grand  old  mountains  of 
Germany,  he  at  that  moment  witnessed  a  flash  of  lightning,  and  felt,  at  the 
same  time,  a  flash  of  thought,  which  burning  its  way  through  all  prejudice, 
roused  his  soul  to  the  Reformation. 

The  same  thing  is  true  when  we  come  to  speak  of  Calvin,  of  Melancthon, 
or  of  Fenelon.  The  same  thing  is  true  of  all  reformers,  in  all  ages  of  the 
world.     When  I  discover  that  John  Wesley,  who  inaugurated  that  portion 


SPIRITUALISM.  145 

of  the  religious  dispensation  denominated  Methodism,  was  at  the  time  the 
hospitable  entertainer  of  unseen  and  strange  powers  and  agents  in  his  house, 
I  have  again  a  repetition  of  that  same  testimony  which  Matthew  gives  us, 
and,  as  I  understand,  the  shepherds  testified  to,  when  they  heard  the  songs 
of  angels  over  the  valleys  and  mountains  of  Judea. 

When  we  examine  the  private  history  of  John  Murray,  the  founder  of  Uni~ 
versalism  in  this  country,  we  find  that  he  also  was  led  to  these  shores,  and  to. 
a  certain  place  prepared  for  him,  by  inspirations  which  we  call  spiritual.  I 
find,  also,  in  referring  to  the  man  called  in  these  days,  "  Swedenborg,  the 
fanatic,"  the  Swedish  expounder  of  what  he  considered  the  interior  sense  of 
the  Bible,  that  he,  too,  testified  to  his  internal  experience,  and  that,  also,  was 
in  harmony  with  all  that  went  before  him  in  human  history,  and  all  that  has 
occurred  since.  Ann  Lee,  the  mother  of  the  Shakers  in  this  country,  the 
centre  of  light  around  which  they  have  organized,  or,  at  least,  the  fountain 
from  which  the  first  people  drank  that  inspiration,  was  lifted  and  upheld,  as 
all  others  have  testified  they  were,  by  agents  from  beyond  the  clouds. 

All  human  history  is  alike.  It  is  one  unanimous  testimony  in  favor  of 
the  idea  that  every  dispensation  has  been  intimately  associated,  at  the  time 
of  its  birth,  with  these  mysterious  manifestations  of  spirit  power.  It  is 
something  more  than  a  mere  question  of  human  testimony.  There  is  a 
genius  in  human  life  which,  more  than  individual  testimony,  goes  to  endorse 
this  uniformity  of  experience.  I  will  not  dwell  upon  that ;  but  I  will  say 
that  in  these  days  we  have  ascertained,  by  means  of  strict  and  careful  in- 
vestigation, that  these  men  and  women  were  not  deceived,  or,  at  least,  that 
in  all  probability  theirs  were  genuine  cases  of  inspiration — inspiration  from 
agents  once  living  in  human  flesh,  but  which,  by  being  subjected  to  the 
chemical  process  called  physical  death,  have  been  disenthralled,  launched  on 
the  broad  sea  of  future  existence,  with  the  power  not  only  to  think  better 
thoughts,  and  to  feel  nobler  sentiments,  but  with  all  their  characteristic  avo- 
cations, which,  like  telegraphic  lines  of  communication,  lead  them  instinct- 
ively and  joyously  back  to  the  haunts  of  life  on  the  earth ;  and  wherever,  in 
Germany,  or  in  Scotland,  or  in  Ireland,  or  in  this  country,  they  have  found 
a  house  where  the  conditions  were  in  harmony  with  manifestations,  they  have 
made  it ;  and  in  spite  of  human  ignorance,  there  has  been,  so  to  say,  a  sort 
of  apostolic  testimony,  not  only  from  human  history  in  this  life,  but  from  hu- 
man history  in  the  future  world,  to  the  one  great,  glorious,  undeniable  fact, 
of  the  present  and  future  being,  intimately  and  indissolubly  united. 

Now,  in  these  days,  examining  these  matters  carefully,  we  are  free  to  set 
aside  all  supernatural  belief  We  are  not  fettered  with  any  belief  in  an 
abstract  God,  or  in  any  power  in  the  universe  to  subvert,  or  invert,  or  trans- 
cend, or  in  any  way  to  infringe  upon,  the  well  established  order  of  these 
laws  which  regulate  both  the  natural  universe  and  the  great  spiritual  em- 
pire to  which  we  are  tending.  We  find,  on  the  contrary,  that  Spiritualism 
is  a  great  Emancipator.  It  has  a  liberalizing  influence  ;  and  through  facts, . 
well  ascertained,  we  have  discovered  that  our  existence  after  death  is  not 
a  ghostly,  ghastly  existence,  but  a  natural,  organic,  palpable,  measurable, 
relative  existence,  as  much  in  harmony  with  objects  and  substances  as  the 
present.  We  have,  therefore,  discovered  that  spiritual  manifestations  are 
not  only  a  key  by  which  to  solve  man's  spiritual  constitution  as  he  is,  but 
prophetically  to  solve  his  constitution  as  he  is  to  be.  It  is  not  only  eman- 
cipating us  from  the  superstitions  of  the  past,  but  it  is  restoring  to  our  bo- 
soms and  to  the  confidence  of  our  reason,  the  testimony  of  all  human  his- 
tory, and  faith  in  our  human  kind.  We  are  not  obliged  by  these  facts,  but . 
10 


146  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

we  are  impressed  in  consequence  of  them,  to  put  faith  in  our  common 
humanity,  —  to  believe  that  the  religionists  of  the  past,  though  they  had 
many  superstitious  and  mythological  errors,  were  at  the  same  time,  earnest 
and  actually  inspired  persons  by  means  of  this  communication  between  the 
inhabitants  of  the  spirit  land,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth.  It  is  to 
me,  as  it  is  to  hundreds  and  thousands  in  this  country,  a  source  of  perpetual 
joy.  It  clothes  all  things  with  a  living  light,  and  gives  instinctive  happiness 
to  what  before  appeared  dead  and  damnable.  It  has,  in  the  first  place, 
destroyed  all  idea  of  a  God  of  hate.  You  observe  that  Spiritualism  has 
destroyed,  first,  the  fear  of  God ;  second,  the  fear  of  the  devil ;  third,  the 
fear  of  hell ;  fourth,  the  fear  of  dying ;  fifth,  the  fear  of  Mrs  Grundy,  and 
her  relatives.  [Laughter  and  applause.]  We  find  ourselves  on  the  broad 
road  to  everlasting  construction,  and  the  building  up  of  everlasting  freedom. 
Spiritualism  comes  to  each  and  all  who  have  accepted  it  by  means  of  a  care- 
ful and  truth  loving-investigation,  as  this  Emancipator  from  the  fear  of 
God,  of  the  devil,  of  hell,  of  dying,  and  of  Mrs.  Grundy.  So  you  will 
understand  that  the  old  conceptions  of  God  are  passing  away  like  the  fogs 
of  the  morning  from  the  mountain  tops.  You  will  understand  that  now  men 
do  not  fear,  but  learn  to  love,  the  uniform  and  immutable  manifestations  of 
that  interior  Mind. 

Spirituahsm  has  revealed  to  the  world  a  new  conception  of  the  infinite  Be- 
ing ;  it  has,  at  the  same  time,  extirpated  from  the  human  mind  all  those  mis- 
chievous and  killing  superstitions  concerning  that  infinite  Holiness.  You  may 
have  heard  the  story  of  the  Irishman,  who,  having  been  converted  to  his  church, 
was  taken  sick,  and  brought  to  the  point  of  death.  When  in  that  condition,  so 
near  death's  door,  that  he  "  could  almost  hear  the  creaking  of  the  hinges,*' 
the  priest  was  called  in  to  administer  "  extreme  unction,"  and  prepare  him 
for  his  journey  through  the  dark  valley,  and  his  appearance  before  the  Judge 
of  all  the  universe.  It  was  all  done ;  but  the  Irishman,  somehow  or  other, 
began  to  recover,  and  was  soon  able  to  sit  up.  Visitors  came  to  see  him, 
and  the  priest  hearing,  two  or  three  days  subsequently,  that  his  patient, 
who  had  been  so  near  the  judgment-seat,  was  recovering,  thought  he  would  go 
and  converse  with  him  concerning  his  state  of  mind  while  in  that  condition. 
So  he  called  on  him,  and  said  he,  "  Patrick  !  you  came  very  near  the  door  of 
death  *and  the  bar  of  God."  "  Yes,  sir,"  said  he.  "  I  came  to  inquire, 
Patrick,  whether  you  were  not  afraid,  after  all  that  was  done  for  your  soul, 
to  meet  your  God  ? "  "  To  meet  me  God,  sir  ?  Oh,  no ;  it  was  tother 
chap  ! "  [Loud  laughter  and  applause.]  I  consider  that  anecdote  as  a 
complete  illustration  of  the  great  danger  of  humanity.  No  man  is  to  fear 
his  God ;  but  the  next  fear  that  comes  up,  in  the  experience  of  superstition, 
is  the  fear  of  the  devil.  Spirituahsm  goes  directly  against  that  superstition 
also,  and  while  it  attacks  all  the  old  conceptions  of  the  Divine,  it  at  the 
same  time  dislodges  that  mythological  personage  from  the  confidence  of 
human  souls. 

And  so  it  is  with  the  idea  of  eternal  punishment.  Spiritualism  has  been 
the  means,  within  the  last  ten  years,  of  producing  the  most  extensive  im- 
provements in  the  old  fabrics  of  hell.  [Laughter.]  Hell  has  undergone 
the  most  extensive  alterations  and  improvements,  in  the  church  and  without, 
in  human  creeds,  and  in  poetry  and  sermons.  Spiritualism  has  been  the 
divinity  of  this  reformation  and  reconstruction  of  old  superstitions,  previous 
to  their  total  abolition  from  the  mind  of  man.  Hence,  if  you  will  listen  to 
the  Orthodox  sermons  from  the  thirty-five  thousand  clergymen  of  this  country, 
you  will  discover  that  in  five  out  of  eight  of  the  sermons  preached,  some- 


SPIRITUALISM.  147 

thing  of  the  new  and  higher  gospel  is  to  be  heard.  They  say  less  abcut 
the  fear  of  God,  and  more  about  the  love  of  Him ;  less  about  the  fear  of 
the  devil,  and  more  about  the  actual  necessity  of  goodness.  And  you  will 
discover,  also,  that  the  fear  of  dying  is  passing  out  from  men's  minds.  That 
process,  which  any  person  can  go  through  with  in  fifteen  or  twenty  short  min- 
utes, has  been  considered  by  the  church  the  whole  end  and  aim  of  human 
existence ;  the  turning  point  between  time  and  eternity ;  the  place  where 
a  man's  position  is  fixed  for  all  future  time.  But  Spiritualists  discover  that 
death  is  but  an  incident  to  the  great  fact  of  existence.  That  discovery  is 
of  greater  importance  to  humanity  than  twenty  scientific  discoveries  by  sci- 
entific men,  who  are  picking  their  teeth  with  the  tails  of  trilobites.  [Laugh- 
ter.] I  tell  you  that  this  sagacious  investigation,  on  the  part  of  scientific 
men,  of  the  fossils  of  a  past  age  of  the  earth,  is  of  no  sort  of  importance, 
when  compared  with  the  discovery  of  Spiritualists  that  death,  that  great 
shock,  heretofore,  to  all  human  relations  and  human  consciousness,  is  but  an 
incident  in  our  existence ;  but  a  vibration  in  a  chord  of  infinite  harmony. 
That  discovery  has  lifted  more  brows,  lightened  more  countenances,  caused 
more  hearts  to  warm  and  beat  with  happiness,  than  all  the  scientific  discov- 
eries of  a  different  mark,  for  the  last  quarter  of  a  century. 

And  so  in  regard  to  the  despotism  of  opinion.  Spiritualism  has  led,  I 
say,  to  the  almost  total  abolition  of  the  fear  of  Mrs.  Grundy.  The  despot- 
ism of  opinion,  greater  in  this  country  than  the  despotism  of  Church  or 
State,  is  also  being  overcome  and  banished  by  the  searching  powers  of  this 
new  and  better  gospel.  So  that  men  and  women  are  being  emancipated 
hourly,  momentarily,  from  all  the  superstitions  of  the  past. 

I  wish  to  speak  of  Spiritualism,  therefore,  as  a  question  of  vast  impor- 
tance, as  being  connected  with  no  supernatural,  or  miraculous,  or  incompre- 
hensible scheme  of  religion,  but  as  a  beautiful  and  natural  scientific  fact 
for  man's  suj)reme  consideration,  which  not  only  rolls  up  the  curtain  of 
all  the  past  of  our  world,  but  also  unveils  before  the  present,  the  grand 
and  beautiful  future.  It  is  true.  Those  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  are 
skeptical  upon  this  question,  are  simply  occupying  a  negative  position. 
They  do  not  know  that  Spiritualism  is  false,  they  simply  do  not  believe  it  is 
true ;  that  is  all.  I  say,  until  they  have  had  our  evidence,  and  seen  what 
we  have  seen,  and  heard  what  we  have  heard,  their  negations  amount  to 
nothing  more  than  negations,  in  view  of  the  positive  testimony  accumulated 
mountain  high  in  all  portions  of  the  American  continent.  Spiritualism  is 
but  ten  years  old,  and  already  it  has  more  followers,  more  warm  and  earnest 
believers,  than  Christianity  had  after  it  had  been  taught  five  hundred  years 
in  the  East.  More  hearts  are  open  to  the  new  dispensation  to-day  in 
America,  and  its  vast  principles  of  reformation  and  freedom,  than  Chris- 
tianity had  for  its  reception  up,  perhaps,  to  the  days  of  Charlemange.  I 
say,  this  is  worthy  the  consideration  of  all  present.  No  humbug  has  ever 
succeeded  without  systematic  effort ;  but  Spiritualism  totally  ignores  organ- 
ization. It  has  progressed  thus  far  in  spite  of  all  human  opposition ;  every 
man  was  found  a  skeptic,  and  by  virtue  of  investigation  was  made  a  be- 
liever. This  is  the  fact;  and  Spiritualism  to-day  is  brought  forward,  not  by 
the  systematic  exertions  of  any  class  of  men  or  women,  but  it  comes  like 
the  waves  of  the  sea,  in  consequence  of  that  momentous  power  of  intrinsic 
momentum  treasured  up  in  its  vast  and  mighty  depths. 

My  belief  in  Spiritualism  is  simply  the  door  to  my  acceptance  of  the 
various  relbrms  for  which  this  Convention  has  assembled  ;  and  I  trust  that 
to  you  all  Spiritualism  is  a  broad  and  glorious  triumphal  archway  leading  in 


148  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

all  directions  into  freedom,  and  a  universal  enjoyment  of  a  heaven  in  the 
world.  Here  we  are,  —  the  friends  of  woman,  the  friends  of  man,  the  friends 
of  the  enslaved,  in  body  and  in  soul,  the  friends  of  education,  the  friends  of 
the  universal  abolishment  of  capital  punishment,  the  reformation  of  the  pris- 
oner, the  universal  emancipation  of  man  from  all  those  various  incidents  of 
his  nature,  as  far  as  the  law  of  progress  can  be  made  applicable  and  effec- 
tive in  his  onward  and  upward  growth.  Spiritualists,  therefore,  are  at  first 
interested  in  the  phenomena,  next  in  the  sentiment,  thirdly  and  lastly,  in 
the  principles  which  come  floating  over  those  sentiments,  and  which  lead  to 
these  vast  and  glorious  results. 

I  do  not  wish  to  detain  you  longer.  I  rose  simply  to  bring  before  you 
this  discussion,  and  I  leave  the  floor  to  a  free  and  careful  investigation  of 
this  subject,  on  the  part  of  all  who  choose  to  speak  upon  it.     I  say  :  — 

"  God  of  the  mountain,  God  of  the  storm, 
God  of  the  flowers,  God  of  the  worm, 
Breathe  on  our  spirits  thy  love  and  thy  healing, 
Teach  us  content  with  thy  Fatherly  dealing, 

Teach  us  to  love  thee, 
And  love  one  another, 
Brother  as  brother, 

And  make  us  all  free. 
Free  from  the  shackles  of  ancient  tradition, 

Free  from  the  censure  of  man  on  his  neighbor, 
Teach  us  each  one  to  perform  our  true  mission. 

And  show  us  't  is  Godlike  to  labor." 

Mrs.  Frances  D.  Gage  then  read  the  following  original  poem,  which 
was  loudly  applauded: — 

ARE    WE    TRUE? 

AN   IMPROMPTU. 

Are  we  true, 
Are  we  generous  to  each  other  ? 
Each  receiving  every  other 
As  we  would  a  friend  or  brother, 

Who  may  have  a  view 
Which  our  eyes  may  not  discover. 
Clear  to  him  — yet  dimm'd  all  over 
By  a  mist,  like  yonder  mountain. 
Rising  from  a  rill  or  fountain 
In  the  valley  down  below. 
Sending  up  its  vapor  slow  ? 

Are  we  true  ? 
We  may  have  a  brighter  vision. 
In  some  quiet  spot  elysian 

To  his  eye  unseen  ; 
But  to  us  'tis  richer,  fairer. 
Softer,  sweeter,  happier,  rarer. 
Than  his  mountain  green. 

Are  we  true. 
If  we  spurn  him,  harshly,  coldly. 
When  he  tells  us,  calmly,  boldly, 

Of  his  mountain  home  ? 
He  sees  not  the  mists  that  shroud  it 
From  our  eye,  and  all  becloud  it, 

Nor  from  whence  they  come. 


SPIRITUALISM.  149 


If  we're  true, 
We  shall  ask  the  sunlight  glorious 
Of  the  truth  to  shine  victorious, 

Ever  coming,  ever  new, 
Ever  scattering  mists  of  error, 
In  their  many  forms  of  terror. 

From  our  clouded  view. 

Are  we  true  ? 
Then  in  harmony  we'll  travel, 
Till  these  mysteries  we  unravel ; 

Hand  in  hand  we  '11  go, 
Smiling  at  our  former  folly. 
At  our  dismal  melancholy, 
From  a  cause  we  did  not  know. 
Thus  dispelling,  in  true  kindness. 
All  the  causes  of  our  blindness 

Which  oppressed  us  so. 

If  we're  true, 
He  will  learn  to  know  our  fountain, 
And  will  lead  us  to  his  mountain ; 

Then  should  mists  still  come  between, 
Each  will  go  to  meet  the  other. 
With  the  kindness  of  a  brother. 

Till  no  mist  shall  come  between. 

Thus  be  true, 
And  our  world  will  soon  be  brighter, 
Care  and  toil  be  burthens  lighter. 

Feuds  and  foes  be  few. 
Every  chain  be  burst  asunder. 
War  will  cease  its  fearful  thunder, 
And  our  foes,  amazed  in  wonder. 

Ask  what  paths  we've  trod 
Thus  to  reach  the  wished-for  heaven 
After  which  so  long  they've  striven,  — 

The  heaven  of  Right  —  The  God. 


The  Harmonial  Club  then  gratified  the  Convention  with  another  song, 

ailer  which  Mr.  Loveland  briefly  addressed  the  audience.     He  said  :  — 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen :  —  It  was  a  saying  of  Pope,  that 


And  for  that  end 


Happiness  is  our  being's  end  and  aim," 


Hope  springs  eternal  in  the  human  breaat ; 


and  in  each  one  of  the  number  composing  this  vast  assembly  glows  that 
ever-living,  ever-outreaching  hope  for  happiness.  That  ever-living  hope 
or  desire  for  happiness  is  the  fountain,  so  far  as  human  nature  is  concerned, 
of  all  the  multifarious  ways  by  which  human  beings  seek  after  happiness, 
and  seek  to  carry  out  what  are  termed  Reforms. 

I  wish  to  offer  a  few  remarks  in  relation  to  the  true  philosophy  of  Re- 
form, based  on  the  following  resolutions :  — 

Resolved,  That  true  reform  cannot  be  successfully  prosecuted  without  a  tolerably 
accurate  knowledge  of  the  principles  which  underlie  the  true  method  thereof. 

Resolved,  That  though  the  common,  or  partial  methods  of  so-called  reform  may 
result  ir  incidental  benefits  to  individuals  and  society,  they  nevertheless  occasion  much 
mischief  which  the  true  method  would  escape. 


150  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

[That  is,  true  reform  takes  in  every  thing  which  can  possibly  enter  into 
the  human  conception  as  a  means  by  which  human  happiness  can  be  secured, 
and  not  one  single  isolated  or  particular  thing.] 

Resolved,  That  true  reform  is  general,  not  particular  —  constructive  (that  is  in  the 
vital  sense)  not  destructive;  and  has  its  basis  in  the  interior  or  spiritual,  and  hot  in  the 
intellectual  or  external  nature  of  humanity. 

There  are  two  stand-points  occupied  by  reformers  ;  the  theological,  which 
involves  one  kind  of  philosophical,  and  the  really  philosophical  stand-point. 
The  theological  supposes  and  affirms  that  all  things  were  constructed 
by  an  intelligent  Creator,  perfect ;  but  that  they  have  got  out  of  order. 
Starting  upon  this  basis,  and  affirming  that  things  are  out  of  order,  and  were 
therefore  made  wrong  by  the  intentionality  of  some  person  or  persons,  they 
are  to  be  at  once  made  right  by  making  them  over.  The  other  theory, 
which  embraces  the  idea  that  the  universe  is  a  living  thing,  inspired,  ani- 
mated, moved,  made  and  re-made  continually  by  an  imposing,  omnipotent, 
essential  potentiality,  takes  a  different  view. 

The  common  method,  starting  from  the  assumption  of  wrong  intention, 
and  hence  wrong  action,  is  necessarily  complaining,  is  fault-finding ;  it  can- 
not possibly  be  otherwise.  Hence,  it  must,  perforce,  from  its  position  or 
stand-point,  be  denunciatory,  and  speak  from  and  through  the  combative 
and  destructive  elements  of  human  nature.  It  cannot  be  otherwise.  Hence 
all  we  hear  coming  in  that  way  proceeds  by  a  natural  necessity  from  the 
stand-point  thus  occupied.  It  is  to  make  things  over ;  it  is  to  destroy  things 
which  are  assumed  to  be  in  themselves,  in  toto,  in  spirit  as  well  as  in  form, 
entirely  and  wholly  wrong.  On  the  contrary,  the  philosophy  of  reform, 
based  upon  man's  spiritual  and  interior  faculties,  or  the  aspirational  and 
religious  part  of  his  nature,  is  allying  itself  to,  and  holding  communion 
with,  the  eternal  life-spirit  of  the  universe ;  and,  conceiving  the  whole  move- 
ment of  this  universe  as  the  outgoings  of  that  vital  power,  sees  nothing  to 
be  in  itself  essentially  wrong,  essentially  and  inevitably  evil,  but  good  every- 
where ;  and  that  the  institutionalisms  of  the  world,  past  and  present,  instead 
of  being  in  themselves  intrinsically  wrong,  are  the  several  rounds  of  the 
ladder  of  progression  and  ascension,  on  which  humanity  has  successively 
placed  its  feet,  on  its  onward  march  to  gain  the  goal  of  its  aspiration  — - 
happiness  for  the  race. 

Hence,  the  true  idea  of  reform,  in  few  words,  is  a  love  of  culture,  —  the 
stimulation  of  that  which  corresponds  to  the  highest  idea  of  humanity  at 
any  given  period  ;  not  by  crushing  and  destroying  the  institutionalisms  that 
now  exist,  but  working  in  them,  as  far  as  possible,  until,  like  the  dying  limbs 
of  a  growing,  vigorous  tree,  they  drop  off,  or  the  tree  reaches  a  condition 
where  they  can  be  securely  lopped  off  by  the  pruning  knife  of  a  discrimi- 
nating, observing  wisdom,  animated  by  the  impulsiveness  of  an  inspired 
humanitary  love,  —  a  love  which  takes  in  the  whole  human  race  as  one 
family,  with  branches  in  different  stages  of  growth,  but  possessing  a  common 
nature  and  destiny,  and  hence  common  ends,  and  aims,  and  views.  It  labors 
for  the  growth  of  this  grand  humanitary  tree,  and  instead  of  savagely  seeking 
to  cut  down  the  tree  itself,  and  the  forms  which  that  tree  has  assumed,  it 
would  call  down  the  sunlight  of  heaven  upon  it  with  more  focal  power, 
that  it  may  communicate  its  life-giving  influence,  and  that  through  its 
leaves  it  may  drink  in  its  vitality,  and,  vitalized  and  invigorated  by  that 
same  influence,  it  may  go  on,  until  the  increasing  growth  of  the  highest 
branches,  that  shall  bear  the  best  and  noblest  fruit,  shall  so  far  obscure  the 


SHAKERISM.  151 

scraggy  and  crooked,  the  thorny  and  prickly  branches,  that  have  borne  the 
unsightly  fruit  of  man's  early  stages,  that  they  shall  cease  to  grow,  and  at 
last  naturally  arid  inevitably  die,  and  the  tree  grow  onward  continually. 

This  is  the  true  idea  of  reform,  as  presented  in  a  few  words,  and  very 
imperfectly,  from  the  Spiritualistic  stand-point,  —  from  the  stand-point  of 
man's  spiritual  nature ;  and  when  it  is  seen,  comprehended,  and  understood, 
by  the  truly  philosophic  mind,  then  all  the  various  platoons  of  the  reform 
army  will  fall  into  their  several  places,  and  instead  of  mutual  conflict  and 
strife,  there  will  come  into  play  the  wider  humanitary  feelings  that  recog- 
nize each  man  as  a  brother,  each  woman  as  a  sister,  and  under  that  divine 
inspiration,  they  will  move  forward  in  one  combined,  solid  phalanx  against 
the  innumerable  methods  by  which  ignorance  seeks  to  perpetuate  itself  and 
its  follies. 

The  Harmonial  Club  then  favored  the  audience  with  another  song,  after 
which  the  President  introduced  Frederic  W.  Evans,  of  the  Shaker 
Community  at  Lebanon. 

ADDRESS   OF   F.   W.   EVANS. 

My  Friends,  —  Being  introduced  to  you  as  a  Shaker,  it  may  be 
proper  for  me,  in  the  first  place,  to  remove  from  your  minds  some  little 
misconceptions  you  may  entertain  respecting  the  views  of  the  people 
called  Shakers.  It  has  been  generally  supposed  by  the  Orthodox  world,  for 
a  great  many  years,  that  Ann  Lee  was  worshipped  by  her  followers,  the 
Shakers ;  that  is  the  point  on  which  I  wish  to  speak  first,  and  to  state  that 
tliere  is  no  more  truth  in  that  than  there  would  be  in  the  statement  that  you 
worship  George  Washington. 

Another  point  is  this  :  It  has  been  generally  supposed  by  the  public 
that  the  Shakers,  as  a  people,  condemn  the  institution  of  marriage,  per  se. 
This,  also,  is  a  mistake.  We  do  not  condemn  the  order  of  marriage,  on 
its  proper  plane,  but  simply  deny  that  it  is  a  Christian  institution.  We  are 
called  "  Shakers."  The  term  was  first  used  in  derision,  by  those  who  were 
apposed  to  the  people  to  whom  it  was  applied,  in  their  early  days ;  but  we 
now  accept  it  as  a  very  significant  title.  We  remember  that  an  inspired 
writer  says,  "  And  I  will  shake  not  only  the  earth,  but  the  heavens  also, 
that  all  those  things  that  can  be  shaken  may  be  shaken,  that  those  things 
which  cannot  be  shaken  [by  the  truth]  may  remain."  Now,  my  friends,  I 
think  that  the  various  classes  of  reformers  here  assembled  are  shaking  the 
earth  ;  they  are  shaking  earthly  governments,  earthly  organizations,  all 
earthly  institutions,  civil,  religious,  and  political.  You  are  all  Shakers. 
[Laughter.]  This  is  an  assembly  met  together  for  the  very  purpose  of 
shaking  the  institutions  of  society,  in  their  now  corrupt  form.  We  are 
more  particularly  interested,  my  friends,  as  a  body  of  people,  in  shaking  the 
old  theological  heavens  that  have  so  long  ruled  this  world  of  ours,  —  to 
what  purpose  you  are  pretty  well  instructed,  judging  from  the  remarks  I 
have  heard  from  this  platform,  and  the  manner  in  which  they  have  been  re- 
ceived, and  with  the  great  majority  of  which  I  perfectly  concur. 

One  of  the  first  ideas  of  which  I  wish  to  speak  is  of  a  theological  charac- 
ter. One  of  the  pillars,  I  may  say,  of  the  old  heavens,  is  the  idea  of  God 
entertained  by  the  Orthodox  world.  It  is  generally  held  —  I  was  so  taught 
in  my  youth  —  that  the  God  described  by  Moses  is  the  God  of  the  uni- 
verse ;  that  he  created  the  myriads  of  systems  and  worlds  that  we  see  floating 


152  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

in  space ;  came  down  to  this  little  earth,  to  a  particular  part  of  it,  moulded 
together  some  of  the  dust,  breathed  upon  it,  and  made  a  man.  My  friends, 
how  many  are  there  here  present  this  day  who  are  not  prepared  to  throw 
away  the  Scriptures  entirely  on  the  one  hand,  and  are  also  not  prepared  to 
throw  away  the  honest  convictions  of  their  souls,  that  do  not  agree  with  those 
Scriptures,  on  the  other  ?  How  many,  I  ask,  are  there  present,  who  are 
in  a  state  of  perplexity  and  confusion  of  mind,  in  a  measure  arising  from  this 
very  idea  of  that  which  has  been  interpreted  out  of  the  Scriptures,  but  which 
is  not  taught  in  them?  The  God  of  Israel,  the  God  of  the  Hebrews,  is  not 
taught  as  being  the  only  God,  the  universal  Deity,  throughout  the  Scrip- 
tures. He  was  "the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  the  God  of 
Jacob."  By  the  by,  when  Moses  inquired,  at  a  later  period,  who  he  was,  he 
answered,  "  I  am  that  I  am."  Moses  knew  that  before.  At  a  still  later 
point  of  time,  a  further  revelation  of  God  was  made  to  the  human  mind 
among  the  Hebrew  people,  under  the  name  of  Jehovah :  "  By  my  name, 
Jehovah,  was  I  not  known."  The  word  Jehovah  is  of  feminine  termination, 
and  represents  God  as  dual  —  male  and  female.  It  was  the  Jewish  idea; 
and  this  word  or  term  was  considered  so  sacred  as  never  to  be  uttered  but 
in  a  whisper.  At  a  still  later  period  of  time  in  Jewish  history,  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  revealed  God  in  the  character  of  a  Father.  There  was  a  still 
further  development. 

I  wish  to  call  your  attention  to  this  progressive  development  of  the  idea 
of  Deity,  which  is  not  yet  completed.  When  he  was  revealed  as  a  Father, 
what  did  that  imply  ?  By  the  by,  we  hear  about  a  Son,  but  did  you  ever 
hear  the  theological  teachers  mention  any  thing  of  a  Mother  ?  I  never  did 
until  I  heard  it  amongst  the  Shakers.  There  is  the  Father,  and  the  Son, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost,  but  no  Mother.  Very  strange  that  there  should  be  a 
Father  without  a  Mother,  or  a  Father  and  Mother  without  some  offspring, 
or  an  offspring  without  Father  and  Mother.  Let  us  be  consistent  in  our 
theology,  as  well  as  in  things  pertaining  more  particularly  to  earth.  Why 
not  be  as  reasonable,  use  as  much  common  sense,  in  our  theological  ideas, 
as  we  do  in  cultivating  a  farm  ?  I  know  of  no  reason.  I  was  a  Material- 
ist, belonging  to  the  very  same  school  with  friends  who  are  now  on  this 
platform,  when  I  first  went  among  the  Shakers.  I  had  been  so  for  five 
years  previous.  I  supposed  myself  invulnerable  to  all  evidence  as  to  the 
existence  of  a  Spiritual,  much  less  to  the  existence  of  a  Supreme  Being. 
But  I  met  with  evidence  among  that  simple  people,  that  "  fanatical "  peo- 
ple, —  for  I  verily  believed  them  to  be  the  most  ignorant  and  extremely 
fanatical  people  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  —  that  compelled  me  to  believe  that 
there  was  a  God;  that  there  was  a  spiritual  world;  that  that  spiritual  world 
was  filled  with  intelligent  souls,  as  is  the  one  in  which  we  live.  And,  more 
than  this,  I  was  compelled  to  believe  that  there  was  an  inter-communication 
between  these  two  worlds  existing  among  that  people  ;  that  the  door  was 
open  into  the  spiritual  spheres,  and  that  communications  of  thoughts,  feel- 
ings, and  sentiments  passed  to  and  fro  between  souls  in  and  out  of  the  mortal 
{body.  Evidence  compelled  me  to  believe  this.  It  was  not  necessary,  nor 
would  it  have  been  of  any  use,  to  say  to  me,  "  If  you  do  not  believe,  you 
shall  be  damned ;  if  you  do  believe,  you  shall  be  saved."  I  could  not  be- 
lieve or  disbelieve  at  my  option  ;  that  was  a  matter  over  which  I  had  no 
control.  But  when  I  was  the  recipient  of  evidence  that  compelled  me  to 
believe,  I  did  believe.  There  is  no  merit  in  belief ;  there  is  no  demerit  in 
unbelief  If  the  soul  is  honest  and  true  to  its  convictions,  true  to  the  evi- 
dence that  it  does  receive,  I  say  there  is  no  merit  or  demerit  in  the  simple 
act  of  belief  or  unbelief 


SHAKERISM.  153 

Twenty-seven  years  ago,  I  found  a  body  of  Spiritualists,  and  I  have  re- 
sided among  them  up  to  this  time.  Eleven  years  before  the  Rochester 
Knockings  took  place,  a  revival  of  Spiritualism  occurred  amongst  the  people 
called  Shakers.  They  had  gathered  in  a  good  many  from  the  world,  who 
had  been  taught  the  great  truths  in  regard  to  spiritual  things.  This  had 
had  its  effect  upon  society.  By  and  by,  a  new  manifestation  suddenly  broke 
out  among  the  children.  Little  children  were  taken  under  the  operations 
and  exercises,  half  a  dozen  at  a  time.  I  have  seen  them  go  into  visions — be 
in  gardens  filled  with  flowers,  catching  birds,  talking  together,  playing  with 
one  another,  picking  flowers,  smelling  of  them,  manifesting  all  the  childish 
delight  which  the  same  little  ones  would  have  done  in  a  natural  garden.  I 
have  seen  manifestations  that  it  would  not  be  lawful  as  yet  to  utter  — 
the  time  has  not  come.  I  saw  Spiritualism  go  through  distinct  stages 
among  that  people.  The  first  degree  or  stage  was  to  remove  every 
doubt  from  the  minds  of  those  who  had  recently  been  gathered  in,  and 
the  children.  These  had  not  been  baptized  so  deeply  into  spiritual  elements 
as  the  founders  of  the  society.  They  needed,  they  required,  a  deeper  bap- 
tism for  their  own  souls,  and  they  received  it.  Such  was  the  nature  of  the 
manifestations  in  the  first  degree,  that  they  produced  a  perfect  conviction, 
and  removed  every  doubt.  They  assumed  such  forms  and  shapes  as  were 
adapted  to  every  state  and  condition,  to  produce  and  induce  the  most  entire 
belief  in  spiritual  communications.  All  the  operations  or  manifestations  of 
the  first  degree  were  simply  of  the  nature  of  evidence,  to  produce  belief. 
And  let  me  mention  that  there  was  a  great  manifestation  of  love,  harmony, 
good  feeling,  and  every  thing  calculated  to  delight  and  rejoice,  to  comfort 
and  bless  the  souls  of  those  who  were  the  recipients  of  it.  It  was  shut  up 
in  the  society.  They  stopped  their  public  meetings ;  they  withdrew  within 
themselves,  they  closed  every  avenue  to  the  world  without.  Why  ?  Be- 
cause they  were  already  unpopular  enough,  in  all  conscience,  and  if  these 
things  had  been  known  at  that  time  to  much  extent,  I  question  whether  it 
would  not  have  been  the  cause  of  the  demolition  of  the  society,  such  would 
have  been  the  pressure  from  the  Orthodox  world  without. 

After  the  first  stage  had  closed,  and  convincement  was  effected,  another 
degree  began.  That  second  degree  was  of  a  different  character.  Now 
commenced,  my  friends,  from  the  spirit  world,  from  our  spiritual  friends 
with  whom  we  had  come  into  rapport,  a  searching  work  of  judgment.  The 
youth,  the  children,  the  novitiates,  in  and  among  the  people,  who  had  been 
convinced  of  the  reality  of  spiritual  communications,  were  now  required  to 
come  to  a  close  and  searching  self-examination,  in  their  own  souls,  respect- 
ing their  own  condition,  moral  and  spiritual.  Every  evil  habit  of  mind  and 
body  they  were  prepared  to  take  cognizance  of,  was  called  to  their  atten- 
tion, and  pointed  out  by  their  spiritual  friends.  Judgment  began  at  the  house 
of  God.  It  was  a  day  of  work  and  judgment,  I  assure  you.  It  was  a  work 
of  close  self-examination  with  every  soul  of  us ;  for  none  of  us  escaped  the 
heart-searching,  penetrating,  soul-quickening-  operations  of  these  invisible 
friends.  Our  very  thoughts  were  laid  open  before  us ;  our  motives  were 
analyzed ;  our  conduct  was  noted  as  in  a  book  ;  every  thing  was  open.  We 
found,  by  experience,  that  all  our  thoughts,  all  our  actions,  could  be  read  to 
us  at  night  out  of  a  spiritual  book.  The  object,  my  friends,  of  this  work  of 
judgment,  was  to  bring  the  people  called  Shakers  to  their  own  standard 
of  right  and  wrong ;  it  was  to  bring  every  individual  to  the  standard  in  their 
own  souls ;  for  it  was  taught  to  us,  and  always  has  been  by  the  spirits,  that 
the  time  had  come  for  the  new  covenant  that  you  read  of;  —  "  In  those  days, 


154  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

I  will  make  a  new  covenant  with  the  house  of  Israel."  What  is  that  cove- 
nant ?  "  This  is  the  covenant  I  will  make  with  them  in  those  days  :  I  will 
put  my  law  in  their  hearts,  and  in  their  spirits  will  I  write  it.  No  one  shall 
need  to  say  to  his  neighbor,  Know  the  Lord,  for  they  shall  all  know  Him, 
from  the  least  to  the  greatest."     This  is  the  teaching  of  the  spirits  to  us. 

A  friend  has  asked  me  if  I  found  my  faith  on  Ann  Lee  ?  As  much  as  I 
found  it  on  one  of  your  mountains.  So  far  as  her  faith  is  like  my  faith,  it 
is  well ;  but  I  found  my  faith  on  no  authority.  If  Jesus  Christ  uttered  a 
given  sentence,  that  is  not  true  because  he  uttered  it ;  he  uttered  it  because 
it  was  true  ;  and  if  true,  it  must  rest  upon  some  principle,  and  that  princi- 
ple can  be  shown  to-day,  to  an  intelligent,  understanding  mind,  or  else  it 
is  of  no  force  to  any  such  mind.  Therefore  I  have  no  stones  to  throw  at 
those  who  disbelieve,  for  until  such  time  as  the  evidence  has  accumulated 
upon  them  to  cause  them  to  believe,  I  am  not  their  judge. 

We  believe,  my  friends,  that  the  human  race  is  destined  to  go  through 
four  planes  of  progression :  —  the  physical  plane,  the  moral  plane,  the  intel- 
lectual plane,  and  the  spiritual  plane.  These  constitute  the  dispensations 
that  friend  Davis  referred  to.  The  antediluvians  were  on  the  physical 
plane ;  Abraham  inaugurated  the  moral  plane ;  Jesus,  or  rather  his  Apos- 
tles, introduced  the  intellectual  plane ;  Ann  Lee  has  inaugurated  the  spirit- 
ual plane.  On  each  of  these  planes,  my  friends,  we  believe  there  is  en 
rapport  with  those  standing  upon  it,  a  spiritual  order  of  intelligences. 
Those  on  the  physical  plane  are  in  connection  with  an  order  of  spiritual  beings, 
and  they  have  a  God  who  rules  over  them.  They  are  governed  by  physical 
force ;  they  need  it  on  that  plane.  They  require  a  government  adapted  to 
the  plane  on  which  they  stand,  as  friend  Tiffany  very  beautifully  illustrated 
the  other  day.  Those  on  the  moral  plane  can  be  governed  by  moral  means  ; 
those  on  the  intellectual  by  intellectual  means ;  and  those  who  progress  to 
the  spiritual  plane  can  be  governed  by  spiritual  influences,  and  spiritual 
laws.  Each  of  these  planes,  then,  has  its  corresponding  spiritual  sphere ; 
that  sphere  contains  its  own  heaven  and  hell  both,  and  all  who  die  and  leave 
the  body  on  a  given  plane,  go  to  a  life  in  the  spiritual  sphere,  according  to 
the  state  and  condition  they  are  in  when  they  leave  the  body,  which  state 
and  condition  is  not  eternal  and  fixed.  The  laws  of  progression  extend 
beyond  this  mundane  sphere.  All  souls  that  ever  come  into  existence  will 
have  an  equal  opportunity  to  come  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth  on  every 
plane,  and  obey  or  disobey  it,  whether  in  this  world  or  in  the  other.  That 
is  the  Shaker  doctrine. 

Now,  my  friends,  the  God  of  Israel  was  a  God  adapted  to  the  plane  of 
that  people,  —  a  tutelary  divinity,  a  spiritual  being,  above  the  Jews,  but  yet 
nigh  unto  their  own  state  and  condition;  which  fact  is  easily  proved.  If 
you  read  the  record  a  little  carefully,  you  find  that  although,  by  the  exer- 
cise of  his  power,  he  delivered  the  Jews  from  their  bondage,  yet,  encounter- 
ing the  rebellious  opposition  of  the  people  continually,  he  by  and  by  became 
wroth  with  them,  and  he  swore  unto  Moses  that  they  should  never 
enter  into  his  rest,  —  that  is,  that  they  should  never  reach  the  land  of  Ca- 
naan,—  and  only  two  ever  did;  all  the  rest  were  killed  in  the  wilderness. 
At  another  time,  he  became  so  angry  with  the  people  that  he  decided  to 
destroy  them  all  at  once,  and  take  Moses  and  make  a  great  nation  of  him. 
Moses  counselled  him  not  to  do  that, — advised  him  better.  [Laughter.]  He 
stated  to  him  that  if  he  did,  the. nations  around  would  say  it  was  because  he 
had  not  the  power  to  deliver  the  people  ;  and  his  counsel  prevailed.  This 
Moses  "  talked  with  God  face  to  face,  as  a  man  talketh  with  his  friend,  or 


SHAKERISM.  155 

as  a  spiritual  medium  talks  with  tbe  spirit  conversing  with  him.  Moses 
and  the  one  hundred  and  seventy  elders  of  Israel,  went  up  and  talked  with 
God.  They  saw  God,  the  God  of  Israel.  Yet,  my  friends,  when  you  come 
down  to  the  next  dispensation,  that  which  Jesus  inaugurated,  he  tells  us  dif- 
ferent from  what  we  should  naturally  infer  from  that  story.  He  declares 
that  "  no  man  hath  ever  seen  God  on  earth."  "  The  only  begotten  Son, 
that  was  in  the  bossom  of  the  Father,"  he  had  revealed  him,  but  he  did 
not  say  he  had  seen  him. 

Jesus  of  Nazareth  !  Who  is  he  ?  What  is  he  ?  Is  he  God  ?  Is  he  one 
of  the  triune  Gods  ?  No,  my  friends  ;  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  one  of  our  own 
race  ;  "  the  man  Jesus,"  ■ —  by  which  term  he  is  designated  some  eighty  di- 
ferent  times  in  the  Scriptures.  But  I  admit  that  his  birth  was  not  what  we 
should  term  earthly ;  for  I  believe  there  is  a  law,  a  natural  law  and  a  spir- 
itual law  cooperating  together,  by  means  of  which  not  only  Jesus,  but  many 
who  pi'eceded  him,  were  of  supernatural  parentage  on  the  father's  side. 
Every  nation  had  then  its  tutelary  divinity  ;  they  had  their  revelations  from 
that  divinity  ;  they  had  their  Bible,  which  was  the  record  of  those  revela- 
tions, and  it  was  the  Bible  to  them;  —  the  best  book  that  they  had,  the  best 
teaching  they  ever  received.  It  was  their  law  ;  by  it  they  were  justified  or 
condemned,  as  we  have  been  by  the  Bible  hitherto. 

Now,  my  friends,  I  want  to  speak  to  you  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  We  be- 
lieve that  Jesus  came ;  was  born  on  the  earth,  and  came  to  the  age  of  matu- 
rity ;  that  he  learned  the  carpenter's  trade,  and  went  round  among  the  people 
and  got  his  education.  By  and  by  came  John  the  Baptist,  baptizing  the  peo- 
ple in  the  river  Jordan,  unto  Moses,  —  unto  repentance  for  transgressions  of 
the  Mosaic  law.  Among  the  rest  came  Jesus.  "  They  came  to  John,  and 
were  baptized  in  Jordan,  confessing  their  sins."  When  they  had  sinned 
against  Moses,  there  they  confessed  their  sins,  and  repented  and  forsook 
them,  and,  if  they  heeded  John's  instructions,  brought  forth  fruits  meet  for 
repentance.  He  brought  them  back  to  Moses  ;  he  was  a  teacher  unto 
Moses.  Jesus  came  among  the  rest ;  confessed  his  sins,  if  he  had  any ;  was 
baptized  by  John  in  the  river  Jordan.  He  had  been  circumcised  before ; 
was  born  of  woman  under  the  law ;  was  circumcised  under  the  law,  lived 
under  the  law,  was  baptized  into  repentance  under  it ;  confessed  his  sins,  if 
he  had  committed  any,  against  Moses.  But  when  he  came  to  John,  John 
found  he  was  a  more  righteous  man  than  himself,  and  he  said,  "  I  have  need 
to  be  baptized  of  thee,  rather  than  thee  of  me."  He  found,  on  coming  into 
close  communion  with  him,  into  the  confidential  relation  of  confessor,  that  he 
had  been  the  most  righteous  man,  according  to  the  Mosaic  standard.  When 
Jesus  came  out  of  the  river  Jordan,  a  spirit  was  seen  to  descend  from  heaven 
and  alight  upon  him.  I  believe,  my  friends,  that  spirit  was  from  the  fourth 
heavens,  then  for  the  first  time  opened  to  the  inhabitants  of  earth ;  that  that 
spirit  was  of  a  higher  order  than  had  ever  come  into  connection  with  the 
human  race  before, —  higher  than  the  God  of  Israel.  Do  you  under- 
stand? Here  was  a  new  opening,  then,  to  a  new  order  —  a  spiritual 
order. 

Now,  I  want  to  call  your  attention  to  the  practical  effects,  for  that  is  what 
you  want.  What  was  the  practical  effect  of  this  spiritual  visitation  ?  This 
was  the  Christ ;  the  Lord  from  heaven  ;  the  quickening  spirit ;  not  Jesus  of 
Nazareth ;  not  a  man  of  flesh  and  blood,  but  the  Lord  from  heaven,  a  quick- 
ening spirit,  the  Christ,  descended  upon  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  and  baptized 
him  into  the  four  divine  elements.  That  Christ  was  only  one  of  those  four 
heavenly  elements.  There  was  the  first  appearing  of  Christ,  then,  my 
friends,  to  a  man. 


156  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

The  second  appearing  of  Christ  was  to  a  woman,  eighteen  hundred  years 
afterwards.  Now,  what  was  the  character  and  form  of  that  spiritual  visita- 
tion ?  What  were  the  peculiar  principles  evolved  ?  Something  that  you  can 
put  your  finger  upon.  One  of  the  principles  then  developed  in  Jesus  of  Naz- 
areth was  Non-Resistance  —  that  is  the  opposite  of  war.  Another  principle 
develoj)ed  in  Jesus  was  that  of  no  private  property.  "  Except  a  man  for- 
sake all  that  he  hath,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple"  Another  principle  was 
virgin  purity.  "  Except  a  man  forsake  father  and  mother,  wife  and  child, 
and  houses  and  lands  (private  property),  he  cannot  be"  —  not  a  good  man 
or  woman,  but  —  "  he  cannot  be  my  disciple."  He  may  be  a  good  man  on 
the  plane  below,  but  he  cannot  be  a  disciple  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Separa- 
tion from  the  world  was  another  principle.  Yea  and  nay,  instead  of 
swearing,  was  another.  These  were  Christian  principles.  Jesus  Christ  was 
the  only  Christian  the  earth  ever  produced  until  Christ  made  his  second 
appearance  in  Ann  Lee,  and  revealed  the  same  principles,  and  formed  the 
same  character,  and  established  the  second  Christian  church  on  this  earth. 

[The  speaker  was  here  interrupted  by  calls  of  "  Time,"  and  after  thanking 
the  audience  for  their  kind  attention,  he  took  his  seat.  In  order  to  the  com- 
pleteness of  the  speech,  what  he  purposed  further  to  submit  to  the  Conven- 
tion is  here  given,  from  his  own  manuscript.] 

Christ,  the  second  Adam,  and  Eve,  was  the  author  and  finisher  of  the 
faith  of  Christianity,  and  in  Jesus  Christ  was  the  first  Christian  church, 
which  was  perfect  and  prolific,  spiritually,  just  so  far  as  Adam  was  perfect 
and  prolific  naturally,  before  Eve  was  brought  forth.  Christ  dual,  male  and 
female,  was  a  super-mundane  being,  from  the  fourth  heaven,  and  was  the 
agent  of  the  new  revelation  to  Jesus ;  the  leading  truths  of  which  were,  first, 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,  which  Moses  never  taught ;  and  second,  the 
resurrection  of  the  soul,  —  these  being  two  distinct  things ;  the  former 
being  the  mere  continuous,  physical  existence  of  the  soul  after  death ;  the 
latter  the  quickening  of  the  germ  of  the  new,  spiritual  life  in  the  soul,  con- 
sequent upon,  and  succeeding  to,  the  death  of  the  first  Adamic  or  generative 
life,  which  can  only  be  effected  by  the  faith  and  the  cross  of  the  second 
Adam,  Christ. 

As  all  the  future  powers  and  faculties  of  the  natural  man  are  germinal  in 
the  infant,  so  the  life  and  faculties  of  the  future  spiritual  man  are  germinal 
in  the  soul  of  the  natural  or  old  man,  and  these  are  never  quickened  except 
by  the  same  power  that  destroys  the  life  of  the  old  man  —  the  desire  of 
generation,  "  I  wound  and  I  heal,  I  kill  and  I  make  alive."  These  are  the 
two  lives  that  Jesus  alluded  to  when  he  said,  "  Whosoever  will  save  his  life 
shall  lose  it,  and  whosoever  will  lose  his  life  for  my  sake  shall  find  it  and 
keep  it  unto  life  eternal."  The  prophet  Isaiah,  speaking  of  Jesus,  says : 
"  His  life  was  cut  off"  from  the  earth,  and  who  shall  declare  his  generation  ;" 
meaning  that  his  earthly  life,  which  supports  the  work  of  generation,  was 
cut  off",  as  would  be,  also,  the  earthly  life  of  every  true  Christian ;  and  Jesus 
himself  said,  "  Therefore  doth  my  Father  love  me,  because  I  lay  down  my 
life  ;  no  man  taketh  it  from  me,  but  /  lay  it  down  of  myself"  Thus  the 
beginning  of  Christianity  was  the  end  of  generation  —  of  the  world  —  in 
Jesus. 

"  Ye  are  they,"  said  the  Apostle,  "  on  whom  the  ends  of  the  world  have 
come  "  already.  The  same  Christ  said  it  that  creates  souls  anew  in  Christ 
Jesus ;  causes  them  to  "  forsake  and  hate  father  and  mother,  wife  and  chil- 
dren, brothers  and  sisters,  houses  and  lands,  and  their  own  (generative)  life 
also." 


8HAKERISM.  157 

This  hitherto  paradoxical  and  hard  saying  of  Jesus  we  simplify  upon  the 
above  premises,  affirming  that  all  these  characters  can  be  hated,  without  the 
least  enmity  against  the  original  man  and  woman,  or  any  human  soul. 

It  is  the  generative  life  in  man  and  woman  that  induces  them  to  assume 
the  character  of  husband  and  wife  ;  the  same  life  that  impels  them  to  be- 
come father  and  mother ;  hence  result  the  children,  who  are  brothers  and 
sisters  ;  all  of  whom  require,  desire,  and  (if  they  can)  acquire  houses  and 
lands,  to  support  the  earthly  relation  thus  formed.  AH  these  can  be  for- 
saken and  hated  without  hating  the  persons  of  the  original  man  and  woman, 
or  of  the  children. 

It  is  the  earthly,  fleshly  relation  that  must  be  hated  by  all  who  would 
become  followers  of  Jesus,  —  Christians,  "  children  of  the  resurrection,"  of 
whom  Jesus  said  "they  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage,  but  are  as 
the  angels  of  God  in  Heaven." 

The  second  great  principle  of  Christianity  exhibited  in  and  by  Jesus,  was 
brotherhood  —  the  abnegation  of  selfish,  private  property.  Jesus  and  his 
Apostles  held  all  their  temporal  possessions  in  common,  he  affirming  that 
except  a  man  forsake  all  that  he  had,  he  could  not  become  his  disciple. 
This  the  rich  young  man  refusing  to  do,  went  sorrowfully  away.  This  ex- 
plains why  a  camel  could  go  through  the  eye  of  a  needle  easier  than  a  rich 
man  could  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  formed  by,  within,  and  among 
his  disciples. 

The  third  important  Christian  principle  in  which  Jesus  was  indoctrinated 
by  his  heavenly  guide,  Christ,  was  non-resistance.  Hence  Jesus  taught  his 
followers,  "  love  your  enemies,  do  good  to  them  that  hate  you,  bless  them 
that  curse  you."  War  was  abolished,  for  the  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  des- 
troy mens'  lives,  but  to  save  them  ;  —  "  He  that  takes  the  sword  shall  perish 
with  the  sword." 

The  fourth  Christian  principle :  Jesus  refused  to  take  any  part  in  earthly 
government.  He  mortified  his  ambition  and  love  of  rule,  and  refused  to  be 
either  a  divider,  a  judge,  or  a  king. 

Th^  fifth  principle  was  a  sinless  life.  His  name  was  called  Jesus  because  He 
should  save  His  people  from  their  sins.  "  Which  of  you,"  He  asked  the  Jews, 
"  convicteth  me  of  sin  ? "  No  man  or  woman  on  earth  fully  carried  out 
these  cardinal  Christian  principles,  until  Christ  made  His  second  appearance 
to  Ann  Lee,  and  reproduced  in  her  as  a  woman  the  same  character  that 
distinguished  Him  as  a  man.  This,  in  Jesus  alone,  was  all  the  character- 
istics of  a  perfect  Christian.  The  apostles  stood  upon,  and  formed  a  church 
upon,  a  little  lower  plane  than  the  church  in  Jesus  ;  they  were  children  or 
sons  of  Godly  adoption  only,  not  really,  having  no  spiritual  mother  as  Jesus 
did  have  in  Christ. 

The  apostolic,  pentacostal  church,  approximated  a  virgin  life,  community 
of  goods,  separation  from  the  world,  simplicity  of  language,  non-swearing, 
non-resistance,  freedom  from  physical  disease,  and  a  sinless  life.  This  was 
the  Jewish  Christian  church  —  the  Temple  of  God  —  and  was  composed 
exclusively  of  Hebrews,  being  one  degree  below  the  church  in  Jesus. 

The  Gentile  Christian  church  was  founded  on  a  still  lower  plane,  for  it 
retained  marriage  and  private  property  under  restrictions  and  modifications 
derived  from  the  Mosaic  laws,  to  which  the  Gentiles  had  never  been 
accustomed,  and  were  subjected  to  self-denial  in  many  respects  ;  that  was  all 
they  were  able  to  bear,  being  restricted  to  one  wife,  and  taught  the  true  end 
and  object  of  marriage.  Unto  these  the  apostles  wrote  in  their  epistles  to 
the  Corinthians,  Ephesians,  Romans,  Phillippians,  &c.,  as  unto  carnal  and 


158  THE  EUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

not  unto  spiritual,  feeding  them  with  the  milk  of  self-indulgence,  instead  of 
the  meat  of  self-denial,  because  they  were  not  able  to  bear  it. 

When  Constantine  was  converted  to  Christianity,  he  founded  and  became 
the  heathen  head  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  which  was  founded  upon  a 
very  much  lower  plane  than  was  even  the  Gentile  Christian  church,  from 
which  it  was  distinguished  by  its  gradually  assuming  the  supreme  power 
and  control  of  all  civil  as  well  as  ecclesiastical  matters,  adding  to  the 
un-Christian  institutions  of  private  property  and  marriage,  the  introduction 
of  war  as  a  permanent  element  of  Christian  theology,  using  the  sword  not 
only  against  the  external  enemies  of  the  church  and  state,  but  as  a  means 
of  conversion  to  Roman  Catholic  Christianity  ;  and  also  turning  the  same 
sword  against  the  internal  enemies  of  this  mongrel  church  by  the  establish- 
ment of  the  inquisition,  based  upon  the  absurd  idea  that  faith,  or  want 
of  faith,  is  the  result  of  will  and  not  of  evidence,  or  its  absence  ;  by 
monopoly  of  the  elements  of  existence,  particularly  of  the  earth  and  its 
produce,  by  oaths  and  by  slavery,  which  were  incorporated  into  the  church 
as  a  part  of  its  theological  creed.  This  Roman  Catholic  Christian  church 
is  the  beast  that  John  saw,  which  combined  the  wild,  destructive  character- 
istics of  the  bear,  the  leopard,  and  the  lion.  And  John  says  :  '"  I  saw  another 
beast  rise  up  out  of  the  earth,  after  the  first  beast  which  rose  out  of  the  sea, 
having  two  horns  like  'a  lamb'  (Luther  and  Calvin),  but  spake  with  the 
mouth  of  a  dragon."  This  was  the  Protestant  Christian  church,  formed  on 
a  still  lower  spiritual  plane  than  the  preceding,  and  was  the  "  image  of  the 
first  beast,"  and  it  exercised  all  the  power  of  the  first  beast,  war 
without  and  persecution  within.  In  no  one  important  practical  principle 
of  life  did  the  Protestant  church  differ  from  the  Roman  Catholic 
church  that  preceded  it.  Both  of  them  held  to  marriage,  private 
property,  union  of  church  and  state,  ambition,  oaths,  persecution,  war, 
slavery,  monopoly  of  the  life  elements  in  its  most  aggravated  form  ;  salvation, 
an  unmeaning  something  to  be  possessed  in  some  distant,  unknown  world, 
but  gained  and  secured  in  this,  by  means  of  water,  bread,  wine,  blood,  and 
belief  in  the  cruel  murder  of  the  best  Man  the  earth  ever  produced ;  or 
faith  in  the  wooden  cross  as  the  instrument  of  His  destruction  ;  and  as 
churches,  have  been  nearly  destitute  of  the  gift  of  healing  physical  infirmi- 
ties, as  well  as  of  all  other  spiritual  gifts  that  were  possessed  by  the  prim- 
itive church  in  Jesus,  and  to  a  great  extent  in  the  apostolic  church  itself. 

That  the  Protestant  Reformation  effected  a  revolution  for  the  better,  we 
do  not  question  ;  nor  that  even  Roman  Catholicism  itself  is  an  advance  upon 
mere  heathenism  ;  for  the  laws  of  progress  will  assert  their  supremacy  in 
all  human  affairs.  But,  tried  by  the  standard  of  Jesus  and  His  true 
Christian  principles,  Luther  and  Calvin  were  both  what  they  subscribed 
themselves,  "  damnable  men "  and  miserable  sinners,  and  tlieir  Babylon 
churches.  Catholic  and  Protestant  churches,  have  "  become  the  habitation  of 
devils,  the  hold  of  every  foul  spirit,  and  the  cage  of  every  hateful  and 
unclean  bii'd."  But  we  will  pass  from  the  contemplation  of  the  great  whore 
of  Babylon  and  her  little  Protestant  harlot  daughters  to  the  subject 
of  spiritualism.  John  says :  "  I  saw  an  angel  come  down  from  heaven 
having  great  power,  and  the  earth  was  lightened  with  his  glory."  This  is 
spiritualism,  after  whom  another  angel  followed,  crying  with  a  loud  voice, 
"  Babylon  is  fallen,  is  fallen ! "  This  is  the  effect  of  Spirituahsm. 
Wherever  it  enters  into  a  family,  village,  city,  or  nation,  it  shakes  the 
old  theological  heavens,  and  produces  great  confusion  among  the  traffickers 
in  all  manner  of  things,  "  in  slaves  and  souls  of  men,"  who  "  preach  for  hire 


NATURAL    RIGHTS.  159 

and  divine  for  money;"  and  a  communion  between  the  two  worlds  is  being 
fully  established  and  demonstrated  to  the  most  progressed  class  of  minds. 

And  in  the  Shaker,  or  second  Christian  church,  there  is  a  re-revelation 
of  all  the  principles  of  the  true  church  in  Jesus.  A  celibate  life,  community 
of  goods,  separation  from  earthly  governments,  abolition  of  oaths,  of  war, 
of  slavery,  of  poverty,  and  a  sinless,  innocent  life. 

Mrs.  E.  L.  Rose  then  took  the  stand,  and  commenced  an  address  upon 
Education,  in  its  broadest  sense,  but,  owing  to  the  lateness  of  the  hour,  she 
spoke  but  a  very  few  moments,  and  gave  way  for  the  adjournment,  intimat- 
ing that  she  might  resume  the  subject  at  the  evening  session. 

The  Convention  then  adjourned. 

EVENING    SESSION. 

The  Convention  was  called  to  order  at  half  past  seven  o'clock,  by  the 
President. 

After  a  song  by  the  Harmonial  Club,  the  following  resolution  was  read :  — 

Resolved,  That  the  special  influence  of  Spiritualism  in  correcting  and  reforming  reli- 
gious belief,  is  one  of  its  strong  and  commanding  recommendations,  and  commends 
itself  to  the  best  judgment  of  all  religious  minds. 

Mr.  Markham.  Mr.  President,  I  will  intrude  but  a  few  moments  upon 
the  time  of  the  Convention.  As  I  am  informed  that  it  is  necessary  I  should 
speak  to  a  resolution  (though  I  should  rather  speak  to  a  principle  than  to  a 
resolution),  I  will  take  as  a  basis  the  following :  — 

Resolved,  That  the  earth,  like  the  air  and  light,  belongs  in  common  to  the  children 
of  men  on  it ;  each  human  being  is  alike  independent ;  each  child,  by  virtue  of  his 
existence,  has  an  equal  and  inalienable  right  to  so  much  of  the  earth's  surface  as  is  con- 
venient by  proper  culture  to  his  support  and  perfect  development,  and  none  have  a  right 
to  any  more ;  therefore  all  laws  authorizing  and  sustaining  private  property  in  land,  for 
the  purpose  of  speculation,  and  which  prevent  men  and  women  from  possessing  any 
land  without  paying  for  it,  are  as  unjust  as  would  be  laws  compelling  them  to  pay  for 
air  and  light,  and  ought  to  be  at  once  and  forever  repealed. 

The  principles  contained  in  that  resolution,  I  believe  to  be  just  and 
truthful  principles ;  but  there  is  nothing  embodied  in  the  resolution  to  show 
why  they  are  true  ;  and  I  have  heard  nothing  from  this  platform,  since  I  have 
been  here,  by  which,  as  it  appears  to  me,  we  can  ascertain  whether  the 
principles  are  true  or  not.  Highly  as  I  have  been  interested  in  what  I  have 
heard  from  this  platform,  great  as  my  confidence  is  in  the  good  that  will  be 
produced  by  what  has  been  said  here,  I  must  confess  that  I  have  heard 
nothing  said  that  furnishes  a  safe  and  reliable  basis  for  reforms.  I  desired 
to  get  the  floor  after  our  brother  Loveland  this  afternoon,  because  he  had 
said  that  it  was  to  the  spiritual  nature  we  must  look  for  the  foundation  of 
all  progress.  I  do  not  know  that  I  comprehend  exactly  what  he  understands 
this  spiritual  nature  to  be.  Perhaps  I  am  not  a  spiritual  being  like  him. 
But  this  much  I  do  know,  that  I  am  a  being,  and  I  claim  to  be  a  human 
being.  I  claim  to  have  human  wants  and  human  necessities.  They  are 
inherent  in  me  by  virtue  of  my  humanity,  they  are  consequent  upon  my 
being ;  and  I  hold  that  these  necessities  are  the  standard  by  which  to  meas- 
ure my  inherent  rights;  and  I  hold  that  it  is  the  same  with  every  other 
being.  If  there  exists  in  me  an  inherent  necessity  for  the  fruits  of  the  earth, 
I  have  the  inherent  right,  by  virtue  of  those  necessities,  to  such  fruits.     If 


160  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

these  fruits  are  not  produced  spontaneously,  sufficient  to  supply  all  those 
wants  in  me,  and  in  every  brother  and  sister  of  the  human  family,  and  we 
are  not  provided  with  the  means  by  nature  for  producing  such  supplies, 
there  is  some  defect  in  the  natural  arrangement  of  things.  So  far  as  I  have 
been  able  to  learn,  there  never  has  appeared  any  such  defect.  To  me, 
there  has  always  appeared  to  be  a  natural  and  sufficient  supply,  or  the 
means  for  producing  such  supply,  for  every  natural  requirement  of  every 
human  being.  So  I  take  it,  that  the  reason  why  the  doctrine  in  this  reso- 
lution is  enunciated,  is  because  every  human  being  comes  into  existence 
with  a  necessity  for  the  fruits  of  the  soil,  or  a  certain  portion  of  them.  I 
take  it  for  granted,  that  that  necessity  is  the  natural  basis  of  their  rights.  I 
take  it,  then,  for  granted,  that  any  necessity  existing  inherently  in  the  indi- 
vidual is  the  only  true  standard  by  which  to  measure  the  rights  of  that  being. 

This  appears  to  me  to  be  a  perfectly  natural  and  just  standard,  —  a  standard 
at  which  no  one  can  complain  ;  for  I  believe  it  is  impossible  to  find,  in  the 
whole  realm  of  the  universe,  a  necessity  existing  in  any  being  for  any  thing 
which  shall  require  the  sacrifice  of  the  rights  and  happiness  of  any  other  being. 
It  would  appear  to  me  to  be  just  as  inconsistent  —  and  it  would  be  certainly 
consistent  with  the  popular  doctrine  —  to  say,  that  there  existed  in  the 
human  mind  and  being,  a  necessity  for  the  gratification  of  some  part  of  the 
being  which  required  the  destruction  of  the  happiness  of  some  other  portion 
of  the  being.  I  hold  such  an  idea  to  be  false.  If  there  is  any  such  appear- 
ance, I  hold  it  to  be  evidence  that  the  being  is  imperfect  in  its  development, 
not  in  its  nature.  I  hold  that  the  highest  enjoyment  that  can  be  given  to 
any  faculty  of  the  human  soul  is  just  what  the  creative  power  designed 
should  be  given  to  that  faculty.  The  only  standard  that  I  ever  knew  by 
which  to  measure  elevation  in  the  scale  of  being  is  the  susceptibility  of 
enjoyment.  We  rank  man  at  the  head  of  created  beings,  simply  because 
he  has  more  susceptibility  for  enjoyment  than  any  other.  But  the  whole 
sum  of  human  susceptibility  is  made  up  of  items,  and  each  of  these  is  an 
individual  item,  just  as  an  individual  being  is  an  item  in  the  great  family  of 
man.  Each  of  these  has  its  right  to  gratification ;  but  this  right  does  not 
extend  to  an  infringement  upon  the  right  to  happiness  of  another ;  and  I 
hold  that  the  fullest  enjoyment  of  which  each  individual  faculty  is  suscepti- 
ble makes  no  such  demand.  It  appears  to  me  to  be  perfectly  clear,  and  I 
think  that  it  will  be  perfectly  clear  to  every  individual  who  honestly  sets  to 
work  to  live  up  to  the  idea,  that  the  most  perfect  enjoyment  we  are  sus- 
ceptible of,  is  to  give  to  every  want  of  our  nature  the  fullest  enjoyment  that 
we  can  give  to  it,  without  infringing  upon  the  happiness  of  any  other. 

You  may  call  this  selfishness,  if  you  please;  I  am, not  so  much  afraid  of 
authorities  but  that  I  dare  dispute  the  idea  of  action  from  disinterested 
motives.  I  am  one  of  those,  if  not  the  only  one,  who  dares  to  say  to  the 
world  that  I  do  not  believe  there  was  ever  a  human  being  on  the  face  of  this 
earth,  or  any  other,  or  that  there  ever  will  be  a  being,  who  will  perform  any 
act  but  from  a  desire  for  happiness.  I  believe  this  has  been  the  one  moving 
principle  in  all  time,  and  will  be  in  all  time  to  come.  Although  you  may 
suppose,  on  first  seeing  the  declaration,  that  you  know  thousands  of  cases  to 
the  contrary ;  look  at  them  carefully,  and  do  you  not  find  that  wherever 
there  has  been  a  sacrifice  of  one  enjoyment,  the  sacrifice  has  been  made  to 
secure  some  other  enjoyment  that  seemed  to  be  called  for  more  strongly  ? 
Has  it  not  always  been  a  choice  of  evils  ?  Have  you  not  suffered  a  .wrong 
in  one  direction  to  secure  a  greater  blessing  in  some  other  ?  I  believe  that 
is  always  the  case. 


SPIRITUALISM.  161 

Elder  Grant.  I  will  introduce  a  resolution.  Of  course  I  can  only 
have  time  barely  to  refer  to  it :  — 

Resolved,  That  communications  purporting  to  come  from  departed  human  spirits 
proceed  from  demons,  and  lead  directly  to  skepticism,  sensualism,  and  a  rejection  of  the 
doctrines  of  the  Bible. 

I  do  not  introduce  this  resolution  for  the  sake  of  being  on  the  opposite 
side  ;  I  introduce  it  because  those  are  my  sentiments,  and  as  all  others  speak 
frankly  in  relation  to  their  sentiments,  it  is  expected  I  shall  do  it.  As  I 
have  before  remarked,  I  am  here  as  the  friend  of  all,  but  the  opponent  to 
some  points  of  Spiritualism.  I  was  deeply  interested  in  the  remarks  of 
my  friend  Davis.  I  honor  him  as  an  honest,  sincere  man.  I  claim  to  be 
the  same.     Let  us  compare  notes. 

I  admit  the  physical  and  intellectual  phenomena  claimed  by  the  Spiritual- 
ists. I  have  no  controversy  with  them  on  those  points.  But,  as  was  wisely 
remarked  to-day,  there  must  be  a  cause  adequate  to  produce  an  effect ;  and 
when  we  admit  the  existence  of  physical  and  intellectual  phenomena,  we 
admit  that  there  must  be  some  powerful  agent  or  agents  to  bring  them  about. 
It  is  claimed,  on  the  part  of  Spiritualism,  that  these  agents  are  the  spirits  of 
our  departed  friends.  This,  as  you  see  by  the  resolution,  I  deny.  It  is 
claimed  by  others  that  it  is  all  trickery.  That  I  deny  as  boldly  as  the  Spir- 
itualists do.  I  cannot  believe  that  our  fathers  and  mothers,  husbands  and 
wives,  have  all  turned  out  mere  tricksters,  to  deceive  their  companions.  I 
have  a  higher  opinion  yet  of  my  race  than  that. 

I  remark  now,  in  opposition  to  the  position  of  the  Spiritualists,  that  these 
agents  are  not  the  spirits  of  our  friends.  I  make  this  remark  on  the  authority 
of  the  Bible.  You  know  I  profess  to  be  a  Bible  man.  I  may  be  called 
upon  to  give  reasons  from  the  Bible.  I  can  do  it  —  limiting  myself,  how- 
ever, to  a  few  passages. 

For  instance,  the  Bible  says,  "  The  dead  know  not  any  thing."     I  believe 
this.     The  Bible  declares,  "  Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with 
thy  might,  for  there  is  no  work,  nor  device,  nor  knowledge,  nor  wisdom  in 
the  grave,  whither  thou  goest."     This  is  in  harmony  with  other  passages  of 
Scripture.     Says   David  :  "  Thou  takest  away  their  breath  ;  they  die,  and : 
return  to  their  dust;"  "in  that  very  day,  his  thoughts  perish."     I  turn  to^ 
the  account  of  the   creation  of  man,  and  I  read,  not  that  the   Lord  God 
formed  man  a  "  monad,"  or  lower  order  of  animal,  and  that  he  progressed  to 
a  man,  —  show  me  that  progress  from  the  lower  order  of  animals  up  to  man 
somewhere,  —  but  the  Bible  declares  that  "  the  Lord  God  formed  man  of 
the  dust  of  the  ground,  and  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life,  and 
man  became  a  living  soul."     Now,  if  I  adhere  to  the  Bible,  what  is  man  ? 
Let  us  see.     We  read  that  "  the  dust  shall  return  to  the  dust,  but  the  spirit 
to  God  who  gave  it."     What  is  that  spirit  ?     It  is  the  same  word  that  is 
rendered  "  breath  "  in  the  original.     David  says,  "  Thou  hidest  thy  face,  they 
are  troubled :  thou  takest  away  their  breath,  they  die,  and  return  to  their 
dust."     I  behold  a  man  as  he  approaches  the  hour  of  death.     I  see  him 
wasting  away,  —  growing  weaker  and  weaker;  and  sometimes  the  body  out- 
lives the  mind,  —  until  he  breathes  his  last.     I  see  a  man  prostrate  upon 
the  earth  :  he  lies  senseless  there,  perhaps  motionless,  and  we  say  he  is  dead ;  ; 
but,  perhaps  by  some  action  of  the  surgeon,  he  is  brought  to  life,  and  again 
apparently  lives.     But  suppose,  instead  of  calling  in  the  surgeon,  I  take  an  i 
axe  and  chop  his  head  off,  —  does  that  bring  him  to  life  ? 
11 


162  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

I  am  aware  that  I  am  combatting  the  popular  theology,  as  well  as  S|)irit- 
ualism.  They  will  both  stand  or  fall  together ;  and  if  they  stand,  the  Bible 
will  go  down,  —  I  will  admit  that.  In  the  Norwalk  disaster,  where  so  many 
lost  their  lives,  there  was  one  woman  who  was  pronounced  dead ;  but  the 
friends  were  so  anxious  to  restore  her,  that  they  persevered  in  their  efforts 
until  she  respired  again.  Question  —  what  returned  ?  Was  it  the  woman 
that  came  from  the  spheres,  or,  as  theology  would  have  it,  from  heaven 
or  hell,  and  so  the  human  machinery  was  set  in  motion  again  ? 

The  Bible  teaches,  I  think,  if  1  can  understand  it,  that  nothing  leaves 
man  at  death  but  the  "  breath  of  life."  The  Bible  declares  that  that  breath 
of  life  is  common  to  both  man  and  beast.  Well,  then,  taking  this  position, 
what  is  the  cause  of  these  manifestations,  intellectual  and  physical  ?  I  an- 
swer, they  are  demons.  But  what  are  demons  ?  Says  Mr.  Beecher,  in  his 
work  on  Spiritualism,  these  indications  proceed  from  demons.  Mr.  Beecher, 
what  are  demons  ?  "  They  are  spirits  of  wicked  men."  Then  I  would  like 
to  ask  Mr.  Beecher  how  these  spirits  of  wicked  men  get  out  of  hell,  where 
they  have  been  put  in  torment.  It  must  be  quite  a  respite  to  get  out  and 
come  and  visit  their  friends.  [Laughter.]  Either  give  up  the  idea  that  at 
death,  or  before  the  judgment,  men  go  into  torment,  or  else  admit  that  they 
have  broken  out.  [Laughter  and  applause.]  I  come  back  to  the  question 
—  What  are  demons  ?  I  answer.  They  are  fallen  angels.  I  am  called  upon 
for  proof.  I  appeal  to  the  good  old  Bible.  Remember  my  stand-point  — 
it  is  the  Bible.  The  Bible  teaches  me  that  there  are  angels.  I  believe  in 
angels,  and  believe  they  are  ministering  spirits,  sent  to  minister  to  those  who 
are  heirs  of  salvation. 

But  I  am  told  that  angels  are  spirits  of  men.  I  deny  it,  on  the  authority 
of  the  Bible.  "  But  does  not  that  say  that  there  were  angels  who  looked 
like  men  ?  —  that  some  have  entertained  angels  unawares,  when  they  enter- 
tained strangers  ?  "  But  I  learn  that  man  was  made  "  a  little  lower  than 
the  angels."  Does  not  that  show  that  angels  existed  before  men  ?  "  I  learn 
that  man,  at  the  resurrection,  shall  be  made  "  equal  to  angels." 

Mr.  Foster.  I  learn  that  these  demons,  of  which  the  speaker  has  been 
telling  us,  when  they  were  cast  out  of  heaven,  were  bound  in  chains,  and  I 
want  to  know  how  they  got  out.     [Laughter.] 

Mr.  Grant.  Very  good,  friend  Foster.  I  like  the  criticism  of  truth ; 
it  never  fears  investigation.  As  I  was  remarking,  there  are  two  classes  of 
angels,  according  to  the  Bible,  —  those  who  are  called  "  ministering  spirits," 
who  are  sent  to  minister  to  those  who  are  heirs  of  salvation,  and  those  who 
are  called  "  evil  angels,"  "  demons,"  "  unclean  spirits,"  who  addressed  the 
Saviour  when  upon  earth.  Now,  to  my  friend  Foster's  question.  The  Bi- 
ble declares  that  those  angels  who  sinned  were  cast  down  to  hell,  as  it  reads 
in  Peter,  the  only  place  in  the  Bible  where  the  word  "  Tartarus  "  is  ren- 
dered "hell." 

Now,  what  is  the  meaning  of  Tartarus  ?  I  am  prepared  to  answer  the 
question.  I  will  refer  to  those  who  wrote  in  the  times  of  the  old  Christian 
writers.  They  tell  us,  in  substance,  that  Tartarus  is  the  airy  regions  of  this 
world.  Says  Dr.  Ramsey,  an  able  and  learned  writer,  "  The  word  Tartarus 
means,  according  to  Greek  writers,  in  a  physical  sense,  the  bounds  or  verge 
of  this  material  system."  One  thing  is  certain,  they  were  upon  the  earth, 
and  conversed  with  Christ ;  and  when  he  declared  that  he  was  the  Son  of 
God,  they  were  the  first  to  declare,  "  We  know  thee  who  thou  art  —  the 
holy  one  of  God."  He  rebuked  them.  They  were  then  in  Tartarus,  where 
ithey  were  cast,  and  he  was  talking  to  them  upon  the  earth.     Therefore,  Tar- 


SPIRITUALISM.  163 

tarus,  as  the  old  Greek  writers  declared,  is  the  airy  regions  of  this  earth, 
St.  Austin  says,  concerning  these  angels,  "  After  their  sin,  they  were  thrust 
down  info  the  misty  darkness  of  this  lower  air."  And,  sir,  they  have  not  got 
out  of  Tartarus  yet.     [Laughter.] 

Question.  Your  Bible  says  that  God  gave  this  world  to  Adam  in  a 
pure  state.  What  business  had  the  Almighty  to  send  them  down  to  this 
atmosphere,  after  giving  the  earth  to  man  ? 

Elder  Grant.     What  business  have  you  to  send  men  to  prison  ? 

Park  hurst  says,  "  On  the  whole,  Tartaroun  in  St.  Peter  is  the  same  as  to 
throw  into  Tartarus  in  Homer  ;  only  rectifying  the  poet's  mistake  of  Tartarus 
being  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  and  recurring  to  the  original  sense  of  the 
word  as  above  explained,  which,  when  applied  to  spirits,  must  be  interpreted 
spiiitually,  and  thus  Tartarosas  will  import  that  God  cast  the  apostate 
angels  out  of  his  presence  into  the  blackness  of  darkness,  where  they  will 
be  forever  banished  from  the  light  of  his  countenance,  ...  as  truly 
as  a  person  plunged  into  the  torpid  boundary  of  this  created  system  would 
be  from  the  light  of  the  sun,  and  the  benign  operations  of  the  material 
heavens." 

I  might  go  on  with  quotations  to  any  amount.  If  you  want  more  proof, 
I  have  got  it  from  old  writers,  that  Tartarus  means  the  airy  regions  of  our 
world,  upon  or  above  its  surface.  Hence  the  "  prince  of  devils,"  Diabolus, 
is  the  "  prince  of  the  powers  of  the  air." 

What  is  the  great  power  employed  in  their  communications  ?  I  ask  my 
spiritual  friends.  They  tell  me  electricity,  animal  magnetism,  or  gas,  or 
something,  —  they  do  not  care  what  I  call  it.  I  believe  the  statement 
of  the  Spiritualist  on  this  point.  There  are  some  who  deny  that  there  are 
any  communications  at  all,  because  they  are  partly  physical ;  and  as  any 
class  of  men  who  understand  the  laws  of  magnetism,  can  produce  some 
manifestations,  they  say  it  is  all  simply  physical.  I  challenge  them  to 
account  for  all  of  the  intellectual  phenomena  that  are  presented  through 
these  mediums. 

Had  I  time,  sir,  I  would  like  to  go  back  to  the  beginning,  and  trace 
Spiritualism  from  the  time  of  the  fall  of  man  down  to  1858.  But  I  am  told 
the  communications  in  the  Bible  came  from  the  same  source.  I  am  prepared 
to  meet  that  point ;  but  I  cannot  do  it  now.  I  come  back  to  those  demons. 
I  read  in  the  good  Book,  —  "  Now  the  spirit  speaketh  expressly  that  in  the 
latter  times  some  shall  depart  from  the  faith,  giving  heed  to  seducing  spirits 
and  doctrines  of  devils."  Now,  if  this  Book  is  true,  that  must  come  to  pass. 
It  is  only  recently  this  has  got  into  the  church.  They  endeavored  to  intro- 
duce it  in  the  time  of  the  Salem  witchcraft,  and  Spiritualists  declare  it  is  the 
same  thing  ;  but  they  put  the  witches  to  death,  and  thus  put  it  down.  Now 
it  has  got  into  the  church,  and  the  church  has  more  to  fear  from  it  than 
from  all  the  efforts  of  any  thing  outside  of  it.  And  all  this  is  founded  upon 
one  doctrine,  —  the  doctrine  taught  in  Eden,  —  the  very  first  great  lie,  -^ 
"  Thou,  shall  not  surely  die''  There  is  the  foundation  of  the  Catholic 
purgatory,  of  prayers  to  the  saints,  of  the  doctrine  of  eternal  misery  (which 
the  Bible  does  not  teach,  but  the  doctrine  of  eternal  destruction),  and  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul. 

There,  sir,  we  are  proud  to  meet,  —  philosophically,  biblically,  in  the  light 
of  common  sense,  anywhere,  any  class  of  candid  men. 

Mr.  Sennott.  When  Christ  came  into  this  world,  and  taught  his 
peculiar  doctrines,  the  Jews,  or  some  portion  of  them,  said  he  had  a  devil. 
His  answer  to  them  was :  "  How  can  a^  house  divided  against  itself  stand  ?  * 


164  THE   RUTLAND    CONVENTION. 

The  spirits,  I  should  think,  might  answer  the  same  charge  in  the  same  way ; 
for,  certainly,  the  doctrines  they  teach  cannot  be  called  the  doctrines 
of  devils. 

Elder  Grant.  I  was  speakmg  of  the  foundation  of  the  doctrines 
of  Spiritualism,  the  Catholic  purgatory,  prayers  to  saints,  eternal  misery, 
and  the  barbarous  practices  in  heathen  countries  of  putting  relatives  to 
death,  that  their  souls  may  go  up  and  wait  upon  the  soul  of  some 
distinguished  man  recently  deceased.  These  are  some  of  the  fruits  of  the 
doctrine  which  I  charge  home  upon  the  great  seducer,  mentioned  in  the  first 
part  of  the  Bible,  when  he  declared  to  our  first  parents,  "  Ye  shall  not 
surely  die."  I  maintain  that  he  addressed  the  conscious  part  of  man,  be 
that  what  it  may  ;  we  also  maintain  that  our  Heavenly  Father  addressed 
the  same  part  when  He  said,  "  Thou  shalt  surely  die."  I  asked  the  ques- 
tion, when  I  first  spoke,  referring  to  this  passage,  "  Which  told  the  truth  — 
the  Lord  or  the  devil  ? "  I  heard  it  lustily  responded,  "  The  devil "  ; 
nobody  said  the  Lord  told  the  truth.  There  it  stands  ;  one  or  the  other 
of  them  lied.  I  stand  here  in  defence  of  God  and  the  Bible ;  and  it 
is  going  to  turn  right  on  this  point. 

Now,  I  am  asked,  "  Is  this  consistent  with  Spiritualism  ?  Do  they  not 
teach  good  doctrines  ?  "  I  answer,  every  doctrine  they  teach  is  opposed  to 
the  Bible,  without  exception.  That  is  bold,  is  it  not  ?  Bring  the  proof  to 
the  contrary.  Every  doctrine  they  teach  is  contrary  to  the  Bible.  First, 
they  teach  that  there  is  no  God,  as  a  being,  but  that  lie  is  only  a  principle,  in  all 
things.  Secondly,  we  have  no  fear  of  him  in  the  judgment  to  come,  or 
from  any  thing  he  does,  any  more  than  from  the  law  of  attraction.  Thirdly, 
they  teach  that  Christ,  our  Savior,  is  no  more  the  Son  of  God  than  any 
other  man ;  and  if  any  dispute  this,  I  do  not  believe  there  is  a  Spiritualist 
upon  the  ground  who  will  stand  up  and  allow  me  to  question  him  for  two 
minutes,  who  will  not  admit  what  I  have  stated.  They  claim  that  he  was 
a  great  medium,  and  admit  that  he  was  in  advance  of  his  time.  That,  you 
know,  is  in  opposition  to  the  Bible.  Fourthly,  they  declare  that  he  will 
not  come  back  to  this  earth,  which  he  declares  positively  he  will  do. 

I  am  told  that  the  spirits  give  good  counsel,  good  advice.  If  I  were  a 
demon,  and  wished  to  deceive,  I  would  work  in  the  same  way ;  I  would  first 
get  your  confidence.  I  am  somewhat  familiar  with  this.  I  am  acquainted 
with  a  devoted  woman  and  her  husband,  who  lived  in  South  Boston  re- 
cently. This  devoted  woman  went  to  a  Spiritualist  circle.  When  she  was 
there,  it  was  said —  "  We  must  have  prayers.  The  spirits  say  we  must  pray 
and  read  the  Scriptures."  That  is  good,  the  woman  thought,  of  course  ;  and 
so  they  went  on,  step  by  step,  till  passage  after  passage  was  said  not  to  be  cor- 
rect, and  finally  the  whole  is  laid  aside,  and  the  book  rendered  obsolete. 
Let  them  begin  with  another,  perhaps  a  deist,  and  they  will  lead  him  on  to 
atheism.  I  do  not  care  where  you  begin  ;  it  is  a  step  forward  in  error,  — 
the  Bible  being  my  standard. 

How  do  you  know  good  from  evil  ?  Try  it  by  the  Bible.  I  take  the 
Bible  as  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  practice ;  therefore  I  believe  these  spir- 
itual manifestations  are  from  demons.  What  is  their  object  ?  To  convince 
the  world  that  their  great  leader  told  the  truth  when  he  said,  "  Ye  shall  not 
surely  die."  If  they  can  make  us  believe  that  our  friends  are  not  dead, 
what  follows  ?  That  they  are  immortal,  and  Satan  told  the  truth.  Yet  the 
Bible  declares  that  he  was  a  liar  from  the  beginning.  This  is  the  prime 
doctrine  he  introduced  to  the  heathen  world.  He  got  the  Pope  to  decree 
that  the  soul  was  immortal.     Said  Luther,  in  his  defense,  in  1530,  "  I  let 


SPIRITUALISM.  165 

tLe  Pope  make  such  decrees  as  that  the  soul  is  immortal,  with  all  those  mon- 
strous opinions  found  in  the  Roman  dunghill  of  decretals." 

William  Tyndale,  who  gave  us  the  first  printed  edition  of  the  Bible  in 
English,  believed  that  the  whole  man  sleeps  until  the  resurrection  morning. 
So  I  might  go  on ;  but  what  does  the  Bible  teach  ?  That  teaches  that  "  the 
dead  know  not  any  thing."  If  any  man  will  bring  me  a  passage  which 
teaches  that  the  dead  are  alive,  I  will  own  I  am  wrong. 

I  have  examined  the  Bible.  I  find  "  immortality  "  mentioned  five  times> 
as  an  object  to  be  sought  for.  "  Seek  for  honor,  glory,  and  immortality.^* 
How  ?  "  By  patient  continuance  in  well-doing."  There  comes  your  reform. 
"  Well-doing."  I  go  with  you  for  that.  Again :  "  This  mortal  shall  put 
on  immortality."  What  is  that  ?  My  Spiritualist  friends  deny  that  "  this 
mortal  shall  put  on  immortality."  That  is  the  Scripture  doctrine;  "and 
this  corruption  shall  put  on  incorruption."  Now,  sir,  the  word  rendered 
"  spirit,"  if  I  am  taken  on  this  point,  in  the  passage,  "  The  spirit  returns  to 
God  who  gave  it,"  is  found  four  hundred  and  three  times  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment ;  —  it  is  from  the  word  ruakh,  and  is  not  once  rendered  "  soul "  in  the 
Bible.  The  corresponding  word  pneuma,  occurs  three  hundred  and  eighty- 
six  times,  and  is  not  once  rendered  soul.  This  shows  that  the  word  "  soul " 
and  "  spirit "  are  not  synonymous. 

Mr.  Sprague.  Mr.  Chairman,  —  I  am  highly  pleased  with  the  frank- 
ness of  the  gentleman  who  has  just  addressed  us.  I  wish  to  inquire,  does 
Spiritualism  teach  what  Mr.  Grant  and  its  enemies  affirm  ?  I  wish  to 
inquire  whether  Spiritualism  does  not  confirm  the  Bible  and  the  Bible  Spirit- 
ualism, and  therefore  they  are  to  be  considered  synonymous  ?  I  wish  to 
know  whether  the  Bible  may  not  be  consU'ued  to  convey  a  totally  different 
meaning  from  that  which  is  commonly  put  upon  the  letter  of  the  Bible  ? 

Our  friend  who  has  addressed  us,  tells  us  he  believes  the  Bible,  and  yet 
he  has  told  us  to-day  that  he  believes  in  one  God.  He  knows,  if  he  knows 
any  thing,  that  the  first  time  the  word  rendered  "  God,"  is  mentioned  in  the 
Bible,  Elohim.  it  means  gods ;  therefore  he  is  a  Polytheist,  if  he  believes  the 
Bible.  [Applause.]  He  tells  us  God  created  all  things.  Yet  the  Bible 
says,  "/w  the  beginning,  God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth."  It  was  all 
done  "  in  the  beginning,"  then,  else  there  is  a  contradiction.  He  tells  us  that 
Satan  spoke  in  the  Garden  of  Eden.  The  Bible  says  it  was  a  serpent 
Mr.  Grant  does  not  believe  the  Bible,  then.  Mr.  Grant  tells  us  Satan  told 
a  lie.  The  Bible  says  that  God  said  —  "  In  the  day  that  thou  eatest  thereof, 
thou  shalt  surely  die."  Yet  it  is  said  of  that  Adam,  that  he  lived  nine  hun- 
dred and  thirty-seven  years.  Now,  who  told  the  truth  ?  Mr.  Grant  believeg 
the  Bible ! 

Mr.  Grant  believes  the  Bible,  and  je^i  believes  in  demons.  And  what 
are  they  ?  According  to  all  languages,  "  demon  "  means  a  tutelary  God,  a 
guardian  spirit.  Now,  if  Mr.  Grant  believes  in  demons,  he  believes  in  tute- 
lary gods  as  well  as  in  a  plurality  of  gods.  If  he  believes  the  Bible,  he 
believes  that  it  is  the  dead  who  are  raised.  I  ask,  when  are  they  raised  ? 
"  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living ! "  and  as  Moses,  as 
Abraham,  as  the  prophets,  were  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  therefore  they 
lived.  Mr.  Grant  believes  that  the  resurrection  is  past,  and  yet  I  am  told 
he  is  at  work  to  bum  the  world  up ;  but  if  he  knows  any  thing  of  the  Bible, 
he  knows  there  is  not  an  expression  in  it  which  endorses  the  idea  that  the 
world  will  ever  come  to  an  end. 

Now,  if  he  believes  the  Bible,  he  has  got  to  believe  all  these  contradic- 
tions, and  many  more. 


166  THE  EUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

He  tells  us  no  spirit  has  returned  from  the  dead.  But  yet  Christ 
was  on  the  mount  with  Moses  and  Elias  —  were  they  dead?  Mr. 
Grant  tell  us  that  angels  were  created  above  men,  therefore,  first.  The 
Bible  does  not  say  so.  Men  were  created  "  a  little  lower  than  the  angels  ; " 
for,  when  they  become  angels,  they  go  up  above  us.  Now,  I  ask,  are  men 
angels  ?  Three  came  to  Abraham,  and  they  were  men ;  and  when  they 
went  to  Lot,  the  men  and  the  angels  did  eat  together.  Men  are  angels ; 
and  I  will  inform  Mr.  Grant  that  Gabriel  himself,  according  to  Daniel,  9  : 
21,  was  a  man:  —  "The  man,  Gabriel."  Now,  if  Gabriel  was  an  angel, 
the  same  angel  came  to  Zacharias  and  Elizabeth,  and  announced  the  birth 
of  Christ.     "  The  man,  Gabriel,"  an  angel,  did  communicate.     [Applause.] 

Mr.  Grant  tells  us  the  spirits  of  the  dead  know  nothing.  Now,  we  are 
to  inquire,  do  spirits  communicate,  according  to  the  Bible  ?  I  go  to  the 
Bible,  and  I  find  it  written  —  "  Ye  have  come  to  an  innumerable  company 
of  angels,  .  .  .  to  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect."  And  though  spirits, 
according  to  Mr.  Grant,  do  not  exist  nor  communicate,  I  read  in  Hebrews 
(2:  2,)  of  "the  word  spoken  by  angels."  In  1  John  4:  1,  it  is  written  — 
"  Beloved,  believe  not  every  spirit,  but  try  the  spirits,  whether  they  are  of 
God."  Now,  if  they  do  communicate,  we  are  to  try  them ;  if  they  do  not 
communicate,  how  can  we  try  them  ?  "  Every  spirit  that  confesseth  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the  flesh  is  of  God."  Ministering  spirits  do  com- 
municate that ;  therefore,  they  are  of  God.  Now,  if  the  Bible  tells  the 
truth,  then  we  are  to  try  all  spirits ;  but  if  they  do  not  communicate,  as  I 
have  already  said,  how  can  we  try  them  ? 

When  we  go  into  an  examination  of  the  results  of  Spiritualism,  Mr. 
Grant  tells  that  it  leads  to  licentiousness,  and  almost  every  vice.  He  has 
spoken  much  about  God.  God  is  a  being,  he  tells  us  ;  not  a  principle.  Now, 
a  being,  if  he  have  no  personality,  is  infinite  ;  if  he  have  a  personality,  he 
is  limited.  Mr.  Grant  beHeves,  therefore,  in  a  limited  God.  [Elder 
Grant  —  "  No."]  He  says  "  no  ;  "  but  he  cannot  escape  the  logic.  I  defy 
him  to  do  it. 

Now,  if  spirits  do  not  communicate  truly,  where  is  the  truth  ?  Go  where 
you  will,  and  you  will  find  throughout  the  Scriptures  more  discrepancies, 
even,  than  you  can  find  in  spirit  communications.  But  spirit  communica- 
tions, being  according  to  Scripture,  are  to  be  tried  by  the  rule  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. When  we  so  try  them,  and  they  are  found  to  be  of  God,  then  we 
are  to  believe  them ;  and  those  who  say  that  "  Christ  has  come  in  the  flesh 
are  of  God."     [Applause.] 

Mr.  Tiffany.  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  —  When  I  stand  here,  or  Mr. 
Grant  stands  here,  to  tell  you  what  the  Bible  teaches  or  means,  I  want  you 
to  understand  that  we  both  mean  that  the  Bible  teaches  thus  and  so  ac- 
cording to  our  understanding  of  it ;  and  if  we  are  infallible  in  our  under- 
standing, we  may  tell  infallibly  what  it  means,  but  if  liable  to  err,  you  only 
have  the  opinion  of  erring  men. 

Now,  I  wish  to  say  to  my  friend  that  the  Bible  has  nowhere  intimated 
that  angels  or  demons  are  any  other  than  the  spirits  of  departed  human 
beings.  The  Bible  has  nowhere  intimated  that  there  is  any  sucli  thing  as 
a  personal  Satan  or  Devil.  That  word  Devil,  or  Satan,  is  a  Hebrew  com- 
mon name,  signifying  simply  an  adversary,  or  antagonism  ;  and  our  clergy 
have  left  the  word  Satan  in  the  translation,  that  they  might  get  up  a  de- 
nominational devil.  That  is  the  way  the  word  "  devil "  originated.  It  is  a 
word  that  symbolizes  all  the  principles  of  antagonism  that  arise  in  individu- 
als and  in  society.     The  word  translated  "  angel "  means  "  messenger,"  or 


SPIRITUALISM.  167 

"ministering  spirit,"  and  the  word  "angel"  is  retained  simply  because  the 
translators  wished  to  maintain  the  idea  that  they  are  a  different  order  of  be- 
ings, and  that  gives  Mr.  Grant  an  opportunity  to  say  that  demons  are 
another  class  of  beings. 

The  Elder  says  "  the  dead  never  know  any  thing."  I  believe  that,  among 
the  Jews,  there  were  laws  punishing  necromancy  with  death.  What  is  nec- 
romancy ?  It  is  foretelling  future  events  by  consulting  the  spirits  of  the 
dead.  Now,  I  should  like  to  know  how  much  you  can  learn  by  consulting 
the  spirits  of  the  dead  ?  The  offence  was  considered  to  be  a  real  one,  and 
therefore  it  was  punished  with  death.  I  would  like  to  inquire  of  Mr.  Grant 
whether  he  thinks  that  law  was  a  sham  ?  Certainly,  if  the  spirits  of  the 
dead  were  unconscious,  they  could  not  be  consulted,  and  future  events  could 
not  be  foretold  by  consulting  them. 

But  to  pass  directly  to  the  point.  I  will  affirm,  with  reference  to  spir- 
itual beings,  that  nowhere  does  the  Bible  intimate  that  there  are  any 
other  spirits  than  those  of  human  beings ;  but  I  affirm  that  angels  are 
called  "  angels  "  when  spoken  of  in  reference  to  the  missions  they  have  per- 
formed ;  but  spoken  of  as  men,  as  individuals,  when  spoken  of  out  of  that 
<^ce  or  mission.  Therefore  the  "  angels "  that  came  to  Lot  were  called 
men ;  and  when  the  neighbors  came  around  Lot's  house,  they  demanded 
that  "  the  men  "*  should  be  brought  out  and  delivered  unto  them.  They 
were  called  "  angels  "  in  their  office  of  advising  Lot  what  was  to  be  done,  I 
suppose  Mr.  Grant  will  not  deny  that  the  Bible  says  what  it  means  on  that 
subject.  So  "  angels  "  came  to  Abraham  and  Sarah.  When  described  as 
individuals,  they  are  called  "men."  "And  lo,  Abraham  lifted  up  his  eyes; 
and  lo,  three  men  stood  before  him."  But,  on  the  communication  of  the  mis- 
sion, then  they  were  called  "  angels."  So,  take  the  case  of  Manoah.  When 
the  angel  came  to  tell  the  wife  of  Manoah  what  should  take  place  in  refer- 
ence to  her  son  Samson  that  was  to  be  born,  she  called  him  "  a  man  ot 
God."  "  A  man  of  God  came  unto  me,  and  his  countenance  was  like  the 
countenance  of  an  angel,  very  terrible."  And  when  he  appeared  the  second 
time,  she  went  to  her  husband,  and  said,  "  Behold,  the  man  hath  appeared 
unto  me  that  appeared  the  other  day."  And  Manoah  went  after  his  wife, 
and  w^hen  he  came  to  where  the  angel  was,  he  said,  "  Art  thou  the  man 
that  spakest  unto  the  woman ? "     And  he  answered,  "  I  am  the  man" 

So  you  may  go  through  the  whole  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  you  will 
find  this  to  be  the  fact  —  that  where  they  are  spoken  of  in  relation  to  their 
mission,  they  are  called  "  angels,"  signifying  "  messengers  ; "  but  where  the 
same  persons  are  spoken  of  as  individuals,  they  are  called  "  men."  Some- 
times they  are  called  "  gods,"  and  then  they  are  spoken  of  as  "  angels  ; " 
and  again  as  "  men, "  referring  to  the  particular  position  they  occupy. 

But  this  mere  verbal  criticism  amounts  to  nothing  ;  and  does  not  indicate 
any  wisdom  on  the  part  of  the  individual  who  takes  it  up. 

So  you  may  look  into  the  New  Testament.  For  instance ;  some  of  the 
Evangelists  state  that  "  angels "  came  to  the  sepulchre ;  others  say  they 
were  "  men."  Mark  says  they  were  "  two  young  men."  Luke  says  they 
were  "young  men  in  shining  garments,"  and,  in  giving  an  account  of 
those  who  appeared  at  the  ascension,  speaks  of  them  as  "  young  men  in 
shining  garments." 

I  wish  you  to  understand,  that  when  we  find  in  the  New  Testament  these 
beings  spoken  of  as  angels,  it  is  simply  because  of  the  fact  to  which  I  have 
alluded,  that  the  Greek  translators  have  tried  to  make  it  out  that  angels 
are  a  different  class  of  beings.     But  they  appeared  in  the  human  form,  they 


168  THE  RUTLAND  CONTENTION. 

Spoke  the  human  language,  and  addressed  themselves  to  the  human  under- 
standing. Again ;  they  never  exercised  any  spiritual  faculty  that  does  not 
belong  to  man.  If  the  Elder  can  find  any  such  case,  I  would  like  to  have 
him  refer  to  it. 

But  that  is  not  all.  He  wanted  to  know  if  the  dead  ever  knew  any  thing. 
I  will  refer  him  again  to  the  time  when  the  Sadducees  came  to  Jesus  and 
propounded  a  question,  and  he  answered  them  by  saying  —  "  Have  you  not 
read  that  which  was  spoken  unto  you  by  God,  saying,  I  am  the  God  of 
Abraham,  and  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob."  Mark  the  words  ! 
Not,  I  was ;  not,  I  have  been ;  not,  I  will  be  ;  but  "  /  am."  Now, 
"  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead ; "  but  Abraham  is  dead,  and  Isaac  is 
dead ;  —  how  do  you  get  along  with  that  ?  "  He  is  not  a  God  of  the  dead, 
but  a  God  of  the  living,  for  all  live  unto  him."  The  dead  "  live  unto  him," 
not,  will  live  in  the  future,  but  now  "  live  unto  him."  If  the  Bible  language 
means  any  thing,  that  is  conclusive. 

Not  only  that,  but,  as  it  has  been  remarked,  if  one  man  who  ever  inhab- 
ited the  human  form  is  found  to  have  been  alive,  after  having  left  the  human 
form,  that  proves  that  all  men  live,  unless  it  can  be  shown  that  this  was  an 
exception.  Now  look  at  the  point.  Did  not  Moses  die?  How  came 
Moses  alive  ? 

Mr.  Grant.     *'  He  rose  from  the  dead." 

Mr.  Tiffany.  How  do  you  know  he  rose  from  the  dead  ?  The  Bible 
does  not  say  so.  Does  the  Bible  say  so  ;  and  if  so,  where  ?  The  Bible 
does  not  intimate  that  he  was  raised  from  the  dead. 

Furthermore,  there  was  what  claimed  to  be  the  spirit  of  Samuel.  How 
came  he  to  get  up  ?  The  Bible  says  the  woman  of  Endor  called  him  up 
at  the  request  of  Saul.  Somehow  he  was  within  hearing  distance,  and 
came,  or  else  the  Bible  does  not  give  the  fact  as  it  was.  Still  further,  when 
we  come  to  Revelations,  it  is  there  affirmed  that  when  the  messenger,  or  angel, 
that  showed  John  certain  things  came  forward,  and  John  was  about  to  fall 
down  and  worship,  he  said,  "  See  thou  do  it  not ;  for  I  am  thy  fellow-servant, 
and  of  thy  brethren  the  prophets."  Now,  says  Elder  Grant,  and  those  of 
his  school,  "That  does  not  mean  that  he  was  the  spirit  of  one  of  the  prophets; 
it  means  that  he  was  the  servant  of  John  and  the  servant  of  the  prophets." 
But  if  he  will  notice  the  construction,  he  will  see  that  the  passage  cannot 
be  thus  interpreted. 

But  I  come  to  another  thing,  and  say  in  regard  to  these  angels,  that  not 
only  do  they  appear  in  human  forms,  speaking  human  language,  exercising 
human  faculties,  called  "  men  "  when  spoken  of  as  individuals,  but  I  infer 
that  there  is  no  room  to  interpolate  another  class  of  beings  between  men 
and  God,  and  Elder  Grant  cannot  get  any  room.  There  is  no  chance  to  in- 
terpolate another  order  of  beings  between  God  and  man,  who  was  created  in 
God's  image,  and  endowed  with  all  the  faculties  that  can  be  conferred  upon 
him.  ''  So  God  created  man  in  his  own  image,  in  the  image  of  God  created  he 
him ;  male  and  female  created  he  them."  Futhermore,  man  is  endowed  with 
all  the  faculties  that  can  fill  up  the  space  between  him  and  God,  because 
he  is  capable  of  coming  into  the  highest  possible  knowledge  —  to  wit,  the 
understanding  and  knowledge  of  God ;  capable  of  coming  into  the  highest 
possible  communion  —  to  wit,  into  communion  with  God;  capable  of  coming 
into  the  nearest  possible  relation  with  God  —  to  wit,  that  of  being  a  son  of 
God.  Now,  wherein  could  God  endow  angels  with  any  faculty  that  man 
does  not  possess  ?  I  stand  here  to  challenge  all  the  world  to  hint  at  an 
intijllectual,  moral,  or  religious  faculty  that  an  angel,  or  any  other  being, 


SPIRITUALISM.  169 

could  possess,  that  is  not  possessed  by  the  human  spirit.  Therefore,  when 
we  look  at  the  Bible,  and  find  it  describing  man  as  created  in  God's  image, 
as  capable  of  coming  into  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  the  love  of  God,  and 
communion  with  God,  and  of  becoming  the  son  of  God,  I  inquire,  what 
ground  is  there  for  supposing  that  there  is  any  being  between  man  and 
God?  I  affirm  again,  that  God  himself  cannot  create  a  finite  being  in 
any  other  way  than  by  having  the  finite  begotten  by  the  finite,  and  thus 
developed  up,  the  less  perfect  to  the  more  perfect.  There  is  no  other 
way  by  which  an  angel  can  be  produced  but  by  being  begotten  in  the 
human  form,  and  brought  up  through  human  unfoldment. 

You  and  I  are  created  of  the  dust  of  the  earth,  but  how  is  it  done  ? 
God  does  it  by  the  operation  of  a  law  that  prepares  the  matter.  Why  was 
man's  coming  so  long  postponed  ?  Geology,  which  is  the  science  of  God, 
has  recorded  upon  the  face  of  material  existence  the  fact  that  ages  upon 
ages  have  gone  by  from  the  time  of  the  fii-st  animal  and  vegetable  forms  ; 
that  the  order  of  progression  is  upward,  gradually  approaching  nearer  and 
nearer  to  the  human  type,  until  at  last  man  appears  upon  the  earth  —  so  far 
as  outward  manifestation  goes,  but  little  above  the  animal  in  form.  I  grant 
that  God  made  him,  but  he  had  his  own  method  by  which  he  created  him, 
developed  him,  and  brought  him  up.  I  affirm  of  this  body  of  mine,  that  I 
have  derived  it  from  the  earth,  which  is  earthy ;  I  affirm  of  this  spirit  of 
mine,  I  have  received  it  from  God,  which  is  of  heaven.  Not  that  my 
spirit  ever  came  up  through  the  animal  kingdom,  but  my  body  did.  God 
knows,  and  I  know,  that  my  body  did  come  through  the  vegetable  and 
animal  kingdoms,  and  came  up  to  that  point  where  it  might  receive  the 
incarnation  of  the  immortal  Spirit,  which  took  possession  of  this  body. 

Parker  Pillsbury.  Mr.  Chairman,  —  I  want  to  say  this:  We  have 
here  a  large  company  of  earnest,  practical,  working  men  and  women,  in  the 
cause  of  humanity ;  and  I  protest  against  their  time  being  wasted  by  two 
gladiators,  discharging  the  small  shot  of  texts  at  each  other  by  the  hour 
together.  When,  I  want  to  know,  in  the  name  of  humanity  and  common 
sense,  is  the  Bible  ever  to  be  settled  as  to  its  meaning  ?  If  we  have  nothing 
better  to  do  than  to  enter  into  this  controversy  about  words,  in  the  name 
of  humanity,  let  us  adjourn,  and  go  out  and  find  better  business.  Some  of 
us  have  come  more  than  a  thousand  miles  to  attend  this  Convention, 
at  great  expense  both  of  time  and  money ;  and  is  this  the  entertainment 
to  which  we  are  to  be  treated  ?  Two  men  stand  here  renewing  a  contro- 
versy now  fifteen  hundred  years  old,  and  no  nearer  the  end  than  the  day 
when  it  began.  And  when  my  friend,  Mr.  Grant,  whose  conscientiousness 
I  respect,  undertakes  to  speak  in  behalf  of  the  Bible,  and  in  behalf  of  the 
Church,  what  does  it  amount  to  ?  The  Church  does  not  like  his  interpre- 
tation of  the  Bible  any  better  than  it  likes  the  interpretation  of  the  most 
skeptical  spirits  to  be  found  in  this  whole  assembly.  About  twenty  years 
ago,  a  young  man  went  down  from  Vermont  to  Boston,  in  pursuit 
of  business  —  a  very  proper  and  very  laudable  object. 

[At  this  point,  the  speaker  was  interrupted  by  cries  of  "  Down, 
down,"  and  loud  clamors  on  the  part  of  a  portion  of  the  audience,  who 
seemed  determined  that  he  should  not  speak.  The  President  appealed  to 
the  audience  to  preserve  order,  and  when  quiet  was  in  some  degree  restored, 
Mr.  Pillsbury  continued.] 

I  respect,  Mr.  Chairman,  your  good  intentions,  and  I  honor  very  highly 
the  course  you  have  pursued  throughout  the  Convention,  and  at  its  close,  I 
intend  to  offer  a  vote  of  thanks  for  the  fidelity  and  integrity  and  honorable 


170  THE  KUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

fairness  with  which  you  have  presided  over  its  deliberations.  But  I  tell  this 
rabble  around  me,  if  they  think  they  can  clamor  me  down,  they  mistake  me 
altogether.  I  have  stood  where  brickbats  and  stones  flew  around  larger 
than  any  of  your  fists  without  quailing,  and  I  shall  not  be  frightened  by 
any  thing  that  may  happen  here. 

I  insist  that  I  am  perfectly  in  order.  We  have  extended  the  time 
of  these  speakers  again  and  again.  For  pity's  sake,  how  long  do  they  want 
to  throw  these  texts  at  us  ?  If  they  must  fight,  I  advise  them  to  go  to  the 
marble  quarries,  or  to  some  field  at  a  respectable  distance  from  the  tent,  and 
fire  off  these  Bible  revolvers  all  night,  if  they  think  best,  —  and  I  commend 
them  both  to  a  Kilkenny  cat  victory.  [Loud  laughter  and  applause.]  I 
stand  here  to  fight  the  earnest  battle  of  life,  and  I  do  not  want  my  time 
frittered  away  by  this  everlasting  jargon.  Thousands  of  men,  wiser  than 
both  of  these  together,  [laughter,]  have  wasted  their  lives  over  the  meaning 
of  these  texts,  and  only  proved  how  big  fools  they  were  at  the  end  of  it. 
[Renewed  laughter.]  We  have  come  here  in  behalf  of  the  cause 
of  humanity.  There  are  millions  of  slaves  on  the  plantations  of  the  South, 
and  in  your  parlors  and  in  your  kitchens  at  the  North ;  and  you  working 
men  of  Vermont,  who  are  clamoring  in  this  unreasonable  and  most 
dishonorable  manner,  are  counted  by  your  Southern  masters  only  "  the 
mud-sills  of  society,  greasy  mechanics,  small-fisted  farmers,  and  moon-struck 
theorists."  Are  you  the  Green  Mountain  Boys  of  whom  we  have  heard  so 
much  ?  [A  Voice  —  "  We  are."]  Then  I  hope  you  will  turn  out  bastards, 
or  it  were  better  Molly  Stark  had  slept  a  widow  and  died  childless  to  boot ! 
[Roars  of  laughter,  and  prolonged  cheering.]  I  have  heard  of  Vermont  as 
the  "  Delectable  Mountains  "  of  the  country  ;  and  I  supposed,  when  the  ark 
of  Freedom  had  been  deluged  in  the  vortex  of  slavery,  that  here,  at  last,  on 
the  green  lulls  of  Vermont,  there  should  be  found  a  Mount  Ararat,  where  it 
might  rest,  and  the  cause  of  Liberty  be  saved  as  the  forlorn  hope  of  the 
world.  But  are  you,  in  God's  name,  the  best  defence  that  the  cause 
of  Freedom  has  in  whom  to  trust  ? 

Mr.  Chairman,  —  I  wish  not  to  impose  myself  or  my  remarks  upon  the 
Convention.  I  rose  to  protest  against  this  useless,  and  worse  than  useless, 
waste  of  words  about  things  which,  no  matter  who  is  right.  Tiffany  or  Grant, 
they  are  both  wrong  in  this  waste  of  time.  And  as  for  their  mere  theories, 
I  wish  at  least  our  friend  Tiffany  would  have  self-respect  enough  not 
to  enter  the  lists  against  one  whom,  I  am  sure,  he  must  feel,  that  if  he  were 
to  demolish  him,  the  game  would  not  be  worth  half  the  powder,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  shot.  (Laughter  and  applause.)  Why,  when  our  friend 
Grant  enters  the  lists  in  behalf  of  the  Bible,  I  fancy  the  Church  must  regard 
him  as  the  merchant  did  the  young  man  from  Vermont,  of  whom  I  began  to 
speak.  He  went  down  to  Boston  to  seek  for  employment,  and  as  he 
approached  the  store  of  a  merchant  who  had  an  unfortunate  impediment  in 
his  speech,  he  said  to  his  clerks,  "  There  is  a  greenhorn  coming ;  call  him 
in,  and  we  will  have  some  fun  with  him.  I  will  ask  him  if  he  can  tell  why 
Balaam's  ass  spoke."     So  they  called  the  young  man  in,  and  the  merchant 

began,  in  his  stuttering  way,  "  C-c-c-an  you  t-t-t-ell " Here  he  broke 

down,  and  one  of  the  clerks  said  to  the  young  man,  "  He  was  going  to  ask 
if  you  could  tell  why  Balaam's  ass  spoke  ? "  "  No,"  said  he  ;  "I  was 
not  there  ;  but  I  guess  his  master  stuttered  badly,  and  so  the  ass  spoke  for 
him."     (Loud  laughter  and  applause.) 

I  think  we  had  better  now  go  back  to  the  great  work  of  Humanity,  and 
leave  the  Priesthood  to  settle  this  war  about  texts. 


SPIRITUALISM.  171 

"  For  modes  of  faith  let  graceless  zealots  fight, 
His  can  't  be  wrong  whose  life  is  in  the  right." 

We  have  better  work,  and  more  important  work,  than  this  endless  jargon 
about  texts.  What  do  you  Spiritualists  care  what  these  texts  teach  ?  You 
have  got  to  meet  every  question  on  other  grounds.  Suppose  Mr.  Tiffany 
annihilates  Mr.  Grant  —  does  Spiritualism  rely  upon  texts  alone  ?  If  so, 
you  had  better  banish  it  from  the  world.  On  the  other  hand,  suppose  Mr. 
Grant  triumphs,  is  Spiritualism  dead  ?  I  say,  let  us  go  back  to  more  im- 
portant work,  and  show  ourselves  worthy  of  our  high  parentage,  as  descend- 
ants of  the  brave  men  who  fought  the  battles  of  the  Revolution.  [Ap- 
plause.] 

Elder  Grant.  There  are  some  points  that  I  ought  to  say  a  word 
about,  lest  the  congregation  misapprehend  my  position.  I  grant  my  friend 
Tiffany  all  he  says  about  **  messengers," — ^^.that  is,  that  the  word  "  angels  " 
means  "  messengers."  I  make  no  plea  there.  There  may  be  "  messen- 
gers "  sent  by  men,  or  by  the  devils,  for  I  read,  "  the  devil  and  his  angels," 
or  messengers ;  or  by  the  Lord,  since  I  read,  "  the  Lord  and  his  angels." 
I  grant  him  that  "  angel "  and  "  messenger  "  are  synonymous.  He  makes 
the  point  of  angelic  ministrations  an  important  one ;  and  so,  indeed,  it  is. 
Can  that  point  be  sustained  —  that  angels  are  the  spirits  of  men  ?  If  it 
can,  my  Spiritualist  friends  may  then  claim  the  Bible  on  their  side  to  a  large 
extent.  I  grant  that  man  was  made  "  a  little  lower  than  the  angels."  My 
friend  argues  that  God  cannot  make  beings  between  men  and  angels,  be- 
cause man  was  made  in  His  image.  According  to  that,  the  Son  of  God  was 
certainly  nothing  but  man ;  the  Bible  teaches  he  was  something  more. 

Allow  me  to  quote  from  the  old  writers  on  this  point.  I  will  refer  back 
to  Thales,  that  Greek  philosopher,  548  years  before  Christ ;  and  I  ask  him 
about  demons,  whom  I  claim  are  a  class  of  angels,  on  the  authority  of  the 
Bible.  Let  us  see  if  he  thinks  they  were  the  spirits  of  men.  He  says : 
"  Demons  are  spiritual  beings,  who  had  never  been  embodied  as  men." 
Let  us  see  what  Plato  says  about  this  matter :  "  The  demons  hold  a  middle 
place  between  God  and  man."  Other  heathen  writers  believed  the  same. 
Let  me  make  one  or  two  extracts  from  the  Christian  writers  in  the  first 
ages  of  Christianity.  Let  us  see  what  they  thought  demons  were.  Tatian, 
who  died  A.D.  170,  says :  "  The  demons  who  govern  men  are  not  the  souls 
of  men.  They  were  ejected  from  the  heavenly  life."  The  Bible  says  they 
were  cast  down  to  Tartarus,  or  "  hell."  I  refer  also  to  TurtuUian,  who  makes 
demons  the  authors  of  the  fall  of  man.  We  have  the  testimony  of  heathen 
and  Christian  writers,  as  well  as  the  Bible,  that  demons  hold  a  middle  place 
between  God  and  man,  and  consequently  angels  hold  a  middle  place,  because 
those  are  represented  as  fallen  angels.  "  Man  was  made  a  little  lower  than 
the  angels."  I  am  told  by  my  Spiritualist  friends  that  there  were  no  angels 
until  some  men  died ;  but,  remember,  man  was  made  a  "  little  lower  "  at  the 
commencement. 

My  friend  says  that  angels,  when  they  have  appeared  upon  earth,  have 
sometimes  been  called  men.  I  grant  it,  sir.  When  they  appeared  to 
Abraham,  they  are  called  angels,  and  afterwards  spoken  of  as  men. 
These  angels  certainly  had  organisms,  for  their  feet  were  washed.  I  find 
the  Bible  exhorting  —  "  Be  not  forgetful  to  entertain  strangers  ;  for  thereby 
some  have  entertained  angels  unawares."  Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  claim, 
on  the  authority  of  the  Bible,  that  angels  resemble  men  in  their  organ- 
isms, in  their  forms,  and  in  their  shape,  so  that  they  have  sometimes 


172  THE  RUTLAND  CONVENTION. 

been  mistaken  for  men ;  but  nowhere  in  the  Bible  are  we  taught  that  the 
spirits  of  men  are  angels,  or  that  the  spirit  of  any  man  ever  appeared  to 
any  other  man.  I  call  for  the  Bible  proof.  I  repeat  it :  The  Bible  no- 
where teaches,  that  the  spirits  of  men,  or  departed  human  spirits,  were  ever 
called  angels,  or  ever  appeared  to  men.  Angels,  when  they  have  appeared 
upon  earth,  have  appeared  in  their  own  persons,  in  every  case  recorded  in 
the  Bible,  and  never  manifested  themselves  through  a  medium.  Demons, 
or  fallen  angels,  have  almost  invariably  manifested  themselves  through 
some  medium.  For  what  reason  ?  To  make  us  believe  that  our  friends 
are  not  dead.  I  am  told  they  imitate  the  voice  ;  the  ventriloquist  will  do 
that.  They  imitate  the  hand-writing,  —  many  counterfeiters  will  do  that. 
They  represent  the  person,  —  play-actors  will  do  that,  and  many  times  in 
the  same  scene.  Cannot  demons  do  as  much  as  men,  to  say  the  least  ?  I 
am  referred  to  the  passage  in  Revelations,  where  John  speaks  of  falling 
down  at  the  feet  of  an  angel.  That  angel  had  feet,  which  does  not  go  to 
prove  that  he  was  in  that  disembodied  state  that  some  of  my  friends  may 
claim.  The  angel,  addressing  John,  said,  "  I  am  thy  fellow-servant,  and  of 
thy  brethren  the  prophets."  He  did  not  say,  I  am  one  of  thy  brethren  the 
prophets.  Suppose  he  did ;  Elias  and  Enoch  were  translated,  and  did  not 
see  death ;  he  might  have  been  one  of  them.  But  he  does  not  intimate 
that  he  is  one  of  the  prophets.  The  old  translation  reads  (take  Tyndale's 
first  edition  of  the  English  Bible)  :  "  I  am  thy  fellow-servant,  and  the 
fellow-servant  of  thy  brethren  the  prophets."  That  is  the  full  ren- 
dering of  it.  He  is  not  only  the  fellow-servant  of  John,  but  had  been 
the  fellow-servant  of  Daniel  and  others ;  for,  says  he,  when  on  a  visit 
to  Zacharias,  "I  am  Gabriel,  that  stand  in  the  presence  of  God."  "  Daniel 
calls  him  *the  man  Gabriel.'"  I  grant  it.  So  demons,  whenever 
they  appear  in  form,  appear  like  men.  We  were  told  they  had  physical 
organisms.  Where  did  they  get  them  ?  Eveiy  physiologist  knows  that  no 
material  part  of  man  leaves  him  at  death ;  where,  then,  did  these  spirits  of 
our  friends  (as  they  are  claimed  to  be)  get  their  physical,  tangible  organisms, 
that  can  be  felt  as  sensibly  as  we  feel  the  hands  of  our  friends  ?  They  do 
not  take  them  with  them.  All  that  is  claimed  is,  that  they  take  an  etherial 
form,  for  they  must  take  that  if  any,  for  no  material  part  leaves  the  body. 

"  I  am  the  God  of  Abraham,  and  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of 
Jacob.  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead  but  of  the  living."  I  wish  my  friend 
Tiffany  had  begun  at  the  beginning  of  the  subject,  and  given  us  an  interpre- 
tation of  it.  The  Saviour  was  pressed  by  the  Sadducees,  who  denied  that 
there  was  any  resurrection  of  the  dead,  —  observe,  the  subject  is  not  the 
resurrection  of  the  living,  but  of  something  that  is  dead,  — "  And  Jesus 
answered  and  said  unto  them,  Ye  do  err,  not  knowing  the  Scriptures,  nor 
the  power  of  God ;  for  in  the  resurrection,  they  neither  marry  nor  are  given 
in  marriage,  but  are  as  the  angels  in  heaven."  Who  rises  ?  He  is  speak- 
ing of  the  woman  who  had  seven  husbands,  and  the  Sadducees  wished  to 
know  whose  wife  she  should  be  when  they  rose  from  the  dead.  Says  Jesus, 
"  when  they  shall  rise  from  the  dead,  (something  that  is  dead,  I  remark 
again,)  they  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage."  Again :  We  leam 
we  shall  be  made  "  equal  with  the  angels."     Equal  with  ourselves,  sir  ? 

Mr.  Curtis.  I  have  here  three  resolutions,  which  I  think  it  is  impor- 
tant should  be  presented  to  this  Convention  at  this  stage  of  its  proceedings. 
I  simply  desire  to  read  them,  and  leave  them  in  the  hands  of  the  Conven- 
tion :  — 


CLOSING   PROCEEDINGS.  173 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Convention  be  tendered  to  the  Harmonists,  of 
Troy,  for  the  sweet  songs  with  which  they  have  enlivened  the  proceedings  of  our  sessions. 

ttesoJved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Convention  be  tendered  to  the  President  thereof, 
for  the  fidelity  and  impartiality  with  which  he  has  presided  over  its  deliberations. 

Resolved,  That  this  Convention  tender  its  thanks  to  the  people  of  Rutland  for  the 
hospitality  with  which  they  have  entertained  us ;  and  that  we  can  but  treasure  its  grate- 
ful recollection,  as  a  most  striking  proof  that  diiferences  of  opinion  on  the  vital  topics 
of  reform  which  have  called  this  Convention  together,  do  not  interfere  with  the  kindly 
sentiments  of  that  common  humanity  on  which,  as  reformers,  we  build  our  hopes  of 
human  redemption. 

Mr.  Foster.  I  wish  to  make  a  single  remark  on  one  of  the  resolu- 
tions —  it  is  that  which  proposes  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  presiding  officer  of 
the  Convention.  It  will  be  remembered  by  those  who  were  present  at  the 
early  part  of  the  Convention,  that  I  felt  called  upon  to  take  exception  to 
the  course  of  the  platform  in  regard  to  the  conduct  of  the  meeting.  In  do- 
ing so,  I  was  understood  to  reflect  upon  the  integrity  of  the  Chair.  It  is 
very  possible  I  did  so  reflect,  for  then  I  was  laboring  under  the  impression 
that  there  was  a  disposition,  on  the  part  of  those  who  had  the  control  of 
this  meeting,  to  crowd  out  some  subjects  that  seemed  to  come  legitimately 
before  it,  under  the  call,  and  which,  to  me,  were  of  all  subjects  the  most 
interesting  and  important ;  and  under  the  influence  of  that  impression,  it  is 
very  likely  that  I  expressed  myself  more  strongly  than  even  the  circum- 
stances would  warrant  to  other  minds.  But  I  now  wish  to  say,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  this  audience,  that  I  believe  I  was  mistaken  in  supposing  there  was 
any  disposition  to  crowd  from  this  platform  any  question  properly  and  le- 
gitimately before  us.  I  think  there  was  a  mistake,  in  the  early  part  of  the 
Convention,  in  crowding  off  the  expression  of  views  dear,  not  to  me,  but  to 
those  of  our  opponents  who  believe  in  the  plenary  inspiration  of  the  Bible. 
I  regret  this  mistake,  and  I  know  it  will  be  used  powerfully  against  the 
Convention.  But  I  wish  to  give  it  as  my  opinion  now,  and  I  shall  give  it 
everywhere,  that  there  was  no  intention  to  deny  free  discussion  ;  that  it  was 
an  honest  mistake  on  the  part  of  those  who  had  had  but  little  experience  in 
conducting  a  free  meeting,  —  a  mistake  which  I  have  been  highly  gratified 
and  delighted  to  find  has  been  fully  repaired  and  atoned  for  in  this  latter 
part  of  the  Convention ;  for  I  believe  no  man  has  had  more  freedom  than 
he  who  stands  most  directly  opposed  to  a  very  large  majority  of  those  who 
compose  the  Convention. 

The  question  being  put,  the  resolutions  were  adopted  by  a  unanimous  vote. 

On  motion,  it  was  Voted,  that  Charles  F.  Hovey,  of  Boston,  John  Lan- 
don,  of  Rutland,  and  J.  M.  W.  Yerrinton,  of  Boston,  be  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  prepare  the  proceedings  of  this  Convention  for  pubUcation. 

The  Convention  then  adjourned,  sine  die. 


APPENDIX. 


LETTERS   TO  THE   CONVENTION. 

FROM  JOSEPH   A.   DUGDALE. 

Hamorton,  Chester  Co.,  Penn.,  6mo.,  12,  1858, 

Esteemed  Friend,  John  Landon: 

The  circular  and  invitation  to  be  present  at  the  contemplated  "  Free  Conven- 
tion," were  duly  received.  It  would  afford  me  no  inconsiderable  pleasure  to  com- 
ply with  the  request,  but  other  engagements  will  prevent.  I  am,  however,  no 
platform  speaker,  and  could  contribute  but  little  to  the  interests  of  debate.  As 
a  minister  in  the  Society  of  Friends,  when  a  young  man,  I  deplored  the  exclusive- 
ness  of  the  sect,  and  longed  for  a  larger  liberty  than  was  considered  expedient 
by  the  body.  The  struggles  for  more  light  caused  the  shutters  to  open,  and  some 
of  us  sacrificed  our  connection  with  the  church,  rather  than  be  denied  the  privilege 
of  pleading  for  the  slave.  We  were  thrown  over  the  battlements,  supposing  our 
society  enjoyments    in  religious  communion  at  an  end. 

We  have  realized  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise,  "He  that  layeth  down  his  life 
for  my  sake  and  the  gospel,  shall  find  it."  We  issued  a  call  for  an  Anti-Sectari- 
an Association,  based  upon  the  religious  element  in  man.  Many  came  at  our 
word,  and  from  that  hour,  we  have  steadily  grown  stronger  in  number,  and  in  a 
sense  which  is  greater  than  numerical  strength.  Our  late  yearly  meeting  of 
Progressive  Friends  was  attended  by  thousands,  and  the  most  excellent  order 
characterized  its  deliberations.  I  here  enclose  a  general  epistle  for  the  Conven- 
tion, and  earnestly  desire  that  you  may  be  guided  by  wisdom  and  truth,  carrying  in 
your  hands  both  the  torch  and  the  hammer.  He  is  but  half  a  reformer  whose  only 
mission  is  to  destroy  —  we  must  build  the  beautiful  and  the  true,  as  well  as  dash 
in  pieces  the  images  of  a  false  theology,  which  are  constantly  being  substituted 
for  the  blessed  religion. 

The  people  will  yet  learn  to  discriminate  between  "  theology  and  religion  ;"  the 
one  is  a  beautiful  flower,  the  other,  the  botanist's  imperfect  description  of  it. 
We  must  separate  between  religion  and  the  documents  which  have  been  put  on 
record  about  it.  Our  weapons  should  be  peace,  and  our  arguments,  love.  These 
are  invincible,  and  through  the  blessing  of  God,  will  hasten  the  triumphs  of  a 
redemption  from  the  curse  of  creeds,  which  already  draweth  nigh. 

"  Tho'  the  cause  of  evil  prosper,  yet  the  Truth  alone  is  strong, 
And  albeit  she  wander  outcast  now,  I  see  around  her  tlirong 
Troops  of  beautiful  tall  angels,  to  enshield  her  from  all  wrong." 

Very  cordially, 

JOSEPH  A.  DUGDALE. 


From   the   Pennsylvania  Yearly  Meeting  of    the  Religious  Society 
OF  Progressive  Friends,  held  at  Longwood,  Chester  County,  Penn., 

FROM   THE   30th     OF   THE     5th   MONTH    TO    THE  4th    OF   THE   6th   MONTH, 

1858. 

To  the  Free   Convention  of  the  Friends  of  Progress,  to  he  held  at  Butland, 
Vermont : — 

Beloved  Friends, — ^We  prize  very  highly  the  privilege  of  corresponding  with 

(1-4) 


APPENDIX.  175 

sincere  and  earnest  minds,  who,  like  ourselves,  are  impressed  that  religion,  di- 
Torced  from  humanity,  is  a  scourge  to  the  human  race. 

We  are  animated  in  receiving  your  call  and  the  words  of  encouragement  it 
breathes.  We  say  to  you,  in  our  turn.  Work  on  ;  let  your  faith  be  exhibited  by 
deeds  of  Mercy  and  Love.  Multitudes  have  yet  to  learn  the  nobility  there  is  in 
labor.  When  they  receive  the  divine  anointing,  they  will  learn,  through  obedi- 
ence to  divine  laws,  that  labor  is  an  ordinance  of  Heaven  for  the  elevation  of 
man.  Experience  satisfies  us  that  the  anti-sectarian  character  of  our  association 
is  a  constant  source  of  vitality.  Our  distinctive  idea  we  have  found  it  useful 
frequently  to  repeat  —  "Theology  is  not  Religion."  Bockinger,  a  learned 
French  writer,  said  of  Sakia,  a  reformer  among  the  Hindoos — "  He  did  not  in- 
vent a  system  altogether  new.  He  merely  pronounced  strongly  and  clearly  that 
which  many  of  his  cotemporaries  had  obscurely  felt.  He  made  himself  the  re- 
presentative of  opposition  to  Brahminism,  which  had  existed  sometime  among 
them."  So  it  was  with  us  at  the  beginning  of  our  movement.  We  set  forth  our 
conviction  that  churches,  however  high  their  pretensions  of  authority  derived 
from  God,  are  only  human  organizations,  and  the  repositories  of  only  such 
powers  as  may  have  been  rightfully  conferred  upon  them  by  the  individuals  of 
whom  they  are  composed,  or  derived  from  the  laws  of  our  social  nature  ;  "  that 
too  long  have  the  common  people  been  deluded  with  the  idea  that  the  church 
holds  a  mysterious  organic  relation  to  the  Infinite,  a  relation  distinct  from  that 
existing  between  the  soul  and  its  Creator,  and  conferring  special  powers  and  pre- 
rogatives ;  that  no  error  has  done  more  than  this  to  debase  and  enslave  the  mind 
of  man,  to  fetter  his  godlike  powers  and  make  him  the  ready  instrument  of  super- 
stition and  priestcraft ;"  "  that  this  is  the  most  vicious  element  of  Popery,  from 
which  our  Protestant  sects  are  not  yet  delivered."  Time  proves  to  us  that  we 
were  not  alone  in  these  views,  but  that  they  had  been  entertained  by  many  hearts, 
who  only  waited  an  opportunity  to  express  them. 

We  should  be  humble  and  grateful  for  the  privilege  of  living  and  working  in 
the  present  period  of  the  world's  history.  We  hope  to  be  preserved  from  a  spirit 
of  egotism,  for  the  most  devoted  and  earnest  lover  of  truth  has  contributed  but 
a  very  little  towards  producing  the  present  great  awakening.  "  The  hand  of  a 
child  may  set  in  motion  a  rock  nicely  balanced  on  the  edge  of  a  precipice.  The 
rock  maj  be  thrown  from  its  place  and  hurled  with  irresistible  velocity  into  the 
valley  below.  Thus  divine  truths  are  poised  so  nicely,  that  comparatively  insig- 
nificant means  may  hurl  them  with  powerful  efibct  upon  the  head  of  error.  But 
as  the  rock  finds  the  valley  from  its  own  intrinsic  weight,  and  not  from  the  feeble 
force  which  set  it  in  motion,  so  does  truth  reach  its  results,  not  from  the  feeble 
hand  by  which  it  is  wielded,  but  by  its  own  inherent,  mighty  power."  We  re- 
spond to  the  sentiments  of  a  beloved  correspondent,  who  said  to  us,  "We  are  in 
the  midst  of  the  most  important  era  in  the  life  of  Christianity.  Neither  the 
period  when  it  detached  itself  from  the  Jewish  ritual  under  the  leadership  of 
Paul,  nor  the  time  when  it  shook  off  the  scarlet  cloak  of  Rome  by  the  strong  arm 
of  Luther,  were  crises  so  important  as  ours,  when  it  is  slowly  and  painfully  dis- 
engaging itself  from  the  creeds  and  ceremonies  that  were  the  natural  expression 
of  the  middle-age  culture,  and  clothing  itself  anew  in  the  forms  of  thought  and 
life  appropriate  to  a  world  already  made  a  family  by  the  telegraph,  and  modified 
in  all  its  habits  by  an  advancing  intelligence  and  freedom." 

Our  meeting  this  year  has  been  large  beyond  all  precedent.  We  have  had  the 
acceptable  presence  and  co-operation  of  a  number  of  well-known  and  beloved 
co-laborers, — among  ihem,  Theodore  Parker,  Charles  C.  Burleigh,  Andrew  Jack- 
son Davis,  and  Mary  F.  Davis. 

On  the  first  day,  the  house  w  as  densely  crowded  in  all  its  parts,  and  thousands 
who  could  not  gain  access,  notwithstanding  the  threatening  aspect  of  the  weather, 
stood  in  the  yard,  and  were  addressed  from  the  vestibule.  The  immense  crowd, 
all  standing,  gave  earnest  attention. 

Our  Committee  on  Education  reported,  in  substance,  that  in  consequence  of 
the  late  financial  pressure,  they  had  been  unable  to  take  any  definite  steps  to- 
wards the  organization  of  a  seminary  of  learning;  but  they  were  united  in  the 
opinion,  that  the  contemplated  institution  should  preserve  the  family  relations 


176  APPENDIX. 

and  character  sufficiently  to  secure  the  pupils  from  those  immoral  influences  and 
violations  of  physiological  laws  which  so  frequently  undermine  the  moral  puri- 
ty and  the  physical  health  of  the  students  in  our  colleges  and  universities. 

Our  committee,  appointed  last  year  for  the  purpose  of  holding  meetings,  pro- 
duced a  very  satisfactory  and  encouraging  report.  Conventions  held  by  them  in 
divers  places  were  often  attended  by  overflowing  numbers,  who  invariably  gave 
kind  and  courteous  attention  to  the  anti-sectarian  and  reformatory  sentiments 
which  were  uttered. 

We  have  appointed  a  new  and  larger  committee  this  year.  The  Committee  on 
Testimonies  produced  reports  on  Slavery,  Caste,  Co-equality  of  Woman,  Tem- 
perance, the  Evils  of  Tobacco,  Education  and  other  kindred  subjects.  Differ- 
ences of  opinion  sometimes  occurred,  but  the  most  fraternal  spirit  characterised 
our  deliberations. 

We  desire  you  may  be  favored  with  the  spirit  of  wisdom,  and  be  guided  in 
your  councils,  so  that  you  will  make  the  world  better  for  having  labored  for  its 
redemption. 

We  should  be  pleased  to  hear  the  result  of  your  deliberations,  to  be  read  at 
our  next  yearly  meeting. 

Cordially,  your  friends, 

Signed  on  behalf  of  the  Yearly  Meeting, 

JOSEPH  A.  DUGDALE,       ) 
OLIVER  JOHNSON,  V  Clerks, 

SmNEY  PEIRCE  CURTIS,  S 


From  the  Yearly  Meeting  oe  the  Friends  of  Human  Progress,  held 
AT  Junius  Meeting-House,  near  Waterloo,  from  the  6th  of  June 
to  the  8th  OF  the  same  inclusive,  1858. 

To  the  First  Annual  Convention  of  the  Friends  of  Human  Progress,  to  be  held  in 
Rutland,  Vt. :  — 

Dear  Friends  :  —  Through  the  bountiful  love  and  guidance  of  the  Infinite 
Parent,  we  are  again  drawn  together  to  enjoy  sweet  intercourse  and  exchange 
fraternal  greetings. 

The  beauties  of  Nature's  spring-time,  now  rounding  into  summer,  the  warbling 
of  birds,  softening  toward  harmony,  the  deep,  solemn,  earnest  accents  of  truth 
swelling  from  universal  mind,  all  teach  us  lessons  of  love,  tolerance,  truth, 
justice  and  wisdom.  The  actualization  of  these  in  life,  we  verily  believe,  will 
introduce  to  earth  the  bright  millennium  of  love  or  heaven,  so  long  sought  and 
earnestly  prayed  for  by  the  religious  world  since  Sinai  thundered,  and  a  Jesus 
exemplified  the  law,  "  Love  ye  one  another." 

We  meet  on  a  platform  as  broad  as  the  capabilities  and  sympathies  of  the 
human  soul,  believing  that  the  illumination  from  the  fountain  of  truth  to  each 
finite  being  is  necessarily  limited  and  partial  in  its  character  —  that,  as  in  the 
human  economy,  one  can  see,  hear,  taste  and  feel  more  than  another,  so  in  spirit- 
ual things,  we  discern  truth  with  various  powers.  Hence,  we  meet  thus  together 
in  these  yearly  conferences,  faithfully  believing,  that  in  giving  that  which  we 
possess  of  intellectual  power,  whether  it  consist  in  revelations  new  or  old,  we  are 
receiving  also  other  thoughts  coming  from  a  different  stand-point ;  thus  enabling 
us  to  sound  the  foundation  of  our  building,  whether  it  be  truly  built  on  rock, 
yea  or  nay. 

We  have  now,  for  ten  years,  been  mingling  together  in  these  annual  convoca- 
tions, each  year  more  and  more  confirmed  in  the  belief  that  they  are  truly  the 
open  door  to  the  weary  wanderer  midst  creeds  and  confessions  of  faith,  ceremo- 
nies and  formal  observances,  to  enter  a  freer  life,  where  the  beautiful  and  true 
can  alone  find  a  resting-place. 

We  feel  that  we  are  but  on  the  threshold  of  this  work.  It  was  nursed  in 
weakness,  but  every  added  day  evidences  the  fact  that  it  is  growing  a  power  in 


APPENDIX.  177 

the  religious  world  —  not  a  power  of  the  excommunicatory  Bull,  the  wild  burn- 
ing fagot,  or  the  more  modern  discipline  ;  but  a  power  of  love  and  good  will, 
teaching  men  that  to  revere  God,  we  must  first  revere  his  representative  —  God 
in  man.  It  is  &  power,  inasmuch  as  men  are  dra\in  away  from  the  image  wor- 
ship of  a  Moses,  a  Jesus,  a  Paul,  or  a  Revelation  to  ages  past,  and  directed  to 
our  everyday's  experience,  to  find  prophets  by  the  way-side  of  life,  who  will 
teach  us  with  more  power  than  Moses  as  a  law-giver,  Jesus  as  a  teacher,  or  Paul 
by  his  epistolary  power.  A  power,  because  it  comes  down  to  the  humanities 
of  our  day,  without  regard  to  ancient  precedents,  and  endeavors  to  make  religion 
of  practical  use  now,  rather  than  a  theoretical  problem  to  be  worked  out  in  the 
mythical  future. 

We  send  forth  this  our  greeting  to  you,  feeling  that  by  this  means  we  may 
keep  the  chain  of  sympathy  and  good  feeling  ever  bright  and  ever  perfect. 

We  feel  encouraged  in  the  fact  that  organizations  similar  to  this  are  springing 
up  numerously  over  our  country.  We  give  to  all  these  the  fraternal  hand ;  and 
to  you,  who  are  on  the  eve  of  your  first  gathering,  we  trust  that  the  blessing  of 
an  Infinite  Father  may  be  with  you  in  all  your  deliberations. 

Our  meeting,  just  closed,  has  been  in  every  sense  a  good  one ;  a  spirit  of 
kindness  and  affection  attended  our  deliberations  throughout.  Though  not  so 
large  in  numbers  as  similar  meetings  in  neighborhoods  more  thoroughly  imbued: 
with  the  progressive  element,  it  was  great  in  that  intellectual  vigor  so  necessary 
to  healthy  growth. 

The  discussions  on  the  various  topics  brought  before  us  were  marked  by  un- 
usual interest.  That  on  the  true  and  false  religion,  brought  up  by  a  series  of 
resolutions  on  religion  and  the  late  "Revivals,"  elicited  an  earnest  and  free  expo- 
sition of  sentiment  against  the  shams  and  pretensions  of  the  so-called  religious 
world.  While  the  meeting  was  ready  to  discriminate  between  the  true  and  false 
in  the  late  "  Revivals,"  they  utterly  repudiated  the  idea  that  any  miraculous, 
spasmodic  effort  of  this  character  could  be  of  any  permanent  value,  believing 
that  perfection  in  spiritual  things  was  to  be  obtained  only  by  earnest  continued 
effort,  and  strict  adherence  to  the  whole  moral  law,  ever  keeping  the  mind  open 
and  free  to  receive  truth  from  whatever  source  it  presents  itself. 

The  question  of  Woman's  Rights  and  Wrongs  was  brought  before  us  in  an 
able  Address  by  Mrs.  Elizabeth  C.  Stanton.  The  meeting  entered  warmly  into 
the  consideration  of  this  all-important  topic.  Other  subjects  of  great  moment 
claimed  our  attention,  for  a  full  report  of  which  we  refer  you  to  our  forthcoming 
printed  report. 

In  the  ministrations  of  our  beloved  friends  and  co-laborers,  Samuel  J.  May,  of 
Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  Philip  D.  Moore,  of  New  Jersey,  Thos.  M'Clintock,  of  Easton, 
Pa.,  Chas.  Mills,  Eliza  Clark,  Wm.  H.  Fish  of  Cortland,  Elizabeth  C.  Stanton, 
and  others,  our  spirits  were  strengthened  for  still  greater  effort. 

Grateful  to  the  ever-living  Parent  of  life  and  immortality  for  his  guidance,  we 
separated  with  confidence  in  each  other  and  a  determination  to  engage  in  earnest 
prayer,  by  manly  and  exalted  lives,  to  extend  peace,  good-will,  light  and  liberty 
among  men. 

Signed,  on  behalf  and  by  direction  of  the  Waterloo  Yearly  meeting  of  the 
"  Friends  of  Human  Progress," 


JAMES  TRUMAN,  ?  ^,^;^- 

FRANCIS  A.  HANCOCK,   S 


ADDRESSES  BY  TRANCE  SPEAKERS. 

On  the  first  evening  of  the  Convention,  as  stated  in  the  Report,  addresses  were 
delivered  by  two  trance  speakers,  (Miss  Helen  Temple,  of  Bennington,  Vt, 
and  Miss  A.  W.  Spraque,  of  Plymouth,  Vt.)  The  substance  of  these  addresses  is 
here  given, 

12 


178  APPENDIX. 

Miss  Temple,  (a  young  lady  of  fourteen  years  of  age,)  commenced  her  address 
with  the  following  verses : — 

Not  here,  not  here,  will  the  spirit  stay, 
But  it  wings  its  flight  for  the  world  away ; 
Not  here,  not  here,  'mid  the  deep'ning  gloom. 
Would  our  spirit  stay,  in  the  shades  of  the  tom"b. 

Not  here,  not  here,  where  sorrow  rolls 
Its  dark'ning  waves  o'er  care-worn  souls, 
But  far  away,  in  the  world  of  light. 
Would  we  chant  the  songs  of  life  so  bright. 
Yes,  far  away  in  the  land  of  love. 
Would  we  sing  our  songs,  in  climes  above. 

Not  here,  not  here,  shall  we  find  our  home, 

Where  the  waves  of  sorrow  and  death  shall  come; 

Not  here,  but  far  above,  far  away 

In  the  portals  of  light,  of  brightest  day. 

Our  spirits  shall  roam  in  the  climes  of  the  blest, 

And  be  with  the  loved  ones,  for  ever  at  rest. 

Not  here,  not  here,  would  our  spirit  stay. 

To  error  and  darkness  for  ever  a  prey. 

But,  winging  its  flight  to  the  world  of  pure  love, 

Chant  the  sweet  songs  and  anthems  above. 

Man  and  his  Destiny !  Let  us  look  back  for  a  few  moments  through  the  haze 
and  mist  of  antiquity,  through  the  dim,  receding  twilight  and  darkness,  —  yes,  let 
us  look  back  to  the  time  when  man  grovelled  through  this  earth  as  an  undevel- 
oped being  in  darkness.  Yes,  Mind  at  that  time,  chained  by  its  fetters  of  ignorance, 
chained  by  its  fetters  of  darkness,  looked  forth  upon  the  surrounding  scenery,  and 
reasoned  from  Nature's  theories,  as  it  understood  them.  Every  man,  existing 
wherever  he  will,  will  worship  at  the  shrine  of  some  God,  and  in  worshipping  at 
the  shrine  of  that  Deity,  he  judges  of  that  God  as  he  would  judge  of  himself. 
Then  let  us  look  back  to  the  past  ages  of  man ;  let  us  look  back  through  the 
misty,  hazy,  dim  distance,  and  reason  from  the  unfolding  of  Mind  in  that  dim  age. 

Man  is  termed  the  breath  of  Deity,  and  such  a  breath  he  surely  is ;  and  that 
breath  can  never  exhale  in  the  surrounding  atmosphere.  It  is  as  everlasting  as 
the  principle  of  Deity  itself.  Mind,  from  every  part  of  this  wide  earth,  speaks 
this  great  truth  —  that  it  is  an  emanation  from  an  everlasting  source,  enshrined, 
for  a  time,  within  this  material  frame.  We  have  stood,  as  you  stand,  within  the 
world,  and,  looking  back,  we  know  that  we  are  parts,  offshoots,  branches,  from 
the  one  tree  of  existence,  —  branches  from  that  mighty  tree  of  everlasting  life, 
from  the  deep  soul  of  Deity.  And  as  such  a  branch,  we  took  up  our  embodiment 
in  human  form,  performed  our  mission  upon  this  earth,  and  passed  to  another 
clime. 

Gaze  at  Moses,  for  instance ;  place  him  upon  this  earth  to-day,  and  who,  we 
ask  you,  would  receive  him  ?  Take  him,  as  he  existed  so  many  years  ago,  in  the 
misty  twilight  of  antiquity,  and  place  him  here,  and  he  would  instantly  be  hung 
as  a  murderer.  You  can  see,  then,  how  mind  has  developed,  how  the  soul  has  un- 
folded. Moses  reasoned  from  the  principles  of  God  as  he  would  reason  from  the 
principles  of  a  material  being.  Every  man  judges  of  God  as  he  judges  of  his 
brother  man.  Moses,  when  he  heard  the  thunders  of  Mount  Sinai,  reasoned  that 
God  was  angry,  and,  taking  his  tables  of  stone,  he  came  down  and  stood  in  the 
midst  of  the  Children  of  Israel,  and,  seeing  them  worshipping  at  the  shrine  of 
other  gods,  he  cast  aside  the  tables  of  stone,  saying,  "  God  is  angry ! "  Friends  of 
truth,  is  the  Everlasting  Spirit,  whose  laws  are  unchangeable,  ever  angry  ?  Is  he 
subject  to  the  petty  passions  that  inflame  men's  minds  ?  Is  he  subject  to  those 
darkening  influences  that  blind  the  interior  portals  of  the  human  soul  ?  No,  he 
is  a  power 

"  Too  wise  to  err,  too  good  to  be  unkind.'* 


APPENDIX.  179 

See  the  teachings  of  Jesus !  —  that  beautiful  branch  of  humanity,  which  pos- 
sesses within  itself  all  the  attributes  of  that  form  of  God  which  you  worship  to- 
day. Jesus  brought  forward  the  beautiful  teachings  of  his  interior  nature,  but 
how  many  have  received  them  ?  How  many  received  them  in  those  olden  times? 
How  many  of  those  who  were  imbued  with  the  sectarianism  of  that  age  came  forth 
and  listened  to  his  doctrines  ?    Few  indeed.  ^ 

Again :  look  back,  as  we  do,  and  see  Mind  as  it  exists  to-day,  and  see  the 
similarity  between  the  two  periods.  How  few  there  are  who  listen  to  the  teach- 
ings of  Jesus,  as  they  are  uttered  to-day !  How  few  there  are  who  gather  into 
their  souls  the  beautiful  and  blooming  flowers  of  everlasting  life !  And  why  is  it 
that  Mind,  as  it  develops,  does  not  receive  those  truths  to-day  ?  Sin  has  been  in. 
the  world.  Sin  has  influenced  the  mind.  And  from  what  does  sin  take  its  rise  ? 
Ignorance  is  the  fertile  soil  in  which  is  planted  the  seeds  of  sin.  Then  gaze  upon 
Mind,  in  slavery,  in  bondage,  and  ask  yourselves,  What  is  it  that  binds  it  in  slavery  ? 
What  matters  it  whether  the  chain  that  binds  your  soul  to-day  be  golden  or  iron, 
if  it  is  the  chain  of  slavery  ?  Mind  has  dwelt  so  long  in  the  shadow  and  in  dark- 
ness, that  the  breath  of  God  cannot  reach  it,  in  its  swift  progress  from  the  bowers 
of  heavenly  light. 

But  man  is  developing.  When  you  look  back  eighteen  hundred  years,  and 
contrast  man's  condition  at  that  time  with  the  present,  you  see  how  he  has  been 
developed.  Follow  the  mighty  chain  of  progress,  and  let  every  link  of  that  mighty 
chain  bring  to  your  soul  a  deeper  knowledge  than  you  have  ever  known  —  the 
knowledge  of  life  eternal.  Yes,  Mind,  unfolding,  developing,  bringing  forth  sweet 
flowers  of  hope,  to-day  blooms  upon  us,  though  yet  clouded  with  the  shadows  and 
mists  of  antiquity.  In  the  churches,  we  hear  the  clanking  of  the  chains  of  bondage 
to  ignorance  and  superstition.  What  shall  tear  away  that  chain  ?  What  shall  free 
these  souls,  that  they  may  dwell  in  happiness,  and  not  in  the  darkness  in  which 
they  now  exist  ?  Mind,  as  it  develops,  speaks  to  you  to-day.  We  have  dwelt 
within  the  form  as  you  dwell ;  but  the  icy  hand  of  Death  has  rested  upon  us,  and 
we  have  passed  to  another  world ;  and  we  have  come  back  to-day  to  roll  the  stone 
from  the  sepulchre  of  the  old  theology  of  antiquity,  that  your  souls  may  be  free 
as  the  winds  of  heaven.  Yes,  it  is  the  mission  of  spirits,  it  is  their  embassy,  to 
come  back  to  you  and  tear  aside  the  drapery  of  midnight  darkness  from  your 
souls,  that  you  may  feel  the  inspiration  of  God,  and  angels  weave  their  silvery 
drapery  round  your  souls. 

Look  at  Mind  to-day.  FoUow  us,  and  gaze  upon  the  churches  to-day.  There 
are  minds  striving  to  free  themselves  from  the  fetters  of  darkness  and  superstition. 
To  such,  our  priests  and  ministers  exclaim  in  thunder  tones,  "  Do  not  investigate, 
do  not  reason,  or  you  will  draw  around  you  the  teachings  of  the  devil ! "  Friends, 
look  upon  your  churches  to-day.  Where  are  the  teachings  of  evil  ?  —  for  we  can- 
not term  it  the  devil.  It  is  evil  principles,  evil  shadows  that  fall  upon  your  souls. 
Then  look  at  your  churches  to-day.  Fear  not  to  investigate.  "  Knock,  and  it 
shall  be  opened  to  you."  Knock  at  the  door  of  reason,  and  the  silvery  drapery 
of  angels  shall  float  over  you,  and  they  will  roU  back  the  eternal  gates,  that  you 
may  enter  in.  In  the  churches  you  are  taught  that  you  are  depraved  beings ;  that 
this  mind  that  is  in  you  is  chained  in  everlasting  chains.  It  is  bound  in  chains, 
but  not  everlasting  chains,  for  the  spirits  of  angels  shall  tear  asunder  the  chains 
of  your  souls ;  they  have  unfolded  their  glorious  pinions,  and  you  shall  be  clad  in 
beautiful  drapery,  and  walk  through  the  broad  and  beautiful  portals  of  reason. 

Yes,  to-day  these  teachings  go  forth  that  would  make  you  believe  your  souls 
totally  depraved.  Look  within  yourselves  to  find  the  breath  of  God.  His  laws 
are  unchangeable  —  "  the  same  yesterday,  to-day  and  for  ever  "  —  "  without  vari- 
ableness or  shadow  of  turning."  Then  look  within  your  souls,  and  ask  of  your 
inferior  nature,  "  Where  is  that  breath  that  was  said  to  have  been  given  to  man 
in  the  Garden  of  Eden  ?  "  Can  it  be  that  the  kingdom  of  his  Satanic  majesty 
has  overcome  the  kingdom  of  Deity  ?  No  ;  God's  kingdom  is  everlasting ;  and 
though  evil  may  spring  from  the  planes  of  ignorance,  and  that  breath  may  have 
been  smothered  in  its  sulphurous  smoke,  yet  the  atmosphere  is  undergoing  a  pu- 
rifj-ing  process,  the  darkness  shall  flee  away,  and  the  voice  of  God  shall  speak  in 
its  subHme  majesty  to  the  soul—  " Let  there  be  light! "  and  there  shall  be  light 


180  APPENDIX. 

Mind,  developing,  unfolding  Mind,  —  can  it  be  that  you  are  totally  depraved? 
—  the  breath  of  God  —  a  portion  of  that  Spirit  —  an  offshoot  from  the  Eternal 
Existence.  No  !  In  every  soul  that  exists  to-day  is  a  spark  of  Deity.  We  may 
look,  for  instance,  upon  the  murderer ;  search  him  in  all  his  life,  follow  him 
through  his  development,  and  there  are  good  theories,  there  are  sparks  of  that 
everlasting  love,  within  the  depths  of  his  soul.  If  but  a  breath,  a  spark,  it  can- 
not be  that  the  kingdom  of  his  Satanic  majesty  shall  overbalance  that  spark. 
No,  it  is  eternal ;  God's  laws  are  unchangeable,  and  that  spark,  dimmed  and 
almost  lifeless  here,  shall,  in  the  spirit  world,  be  unfolded  and  developed  through 
the  spiritual  process.  Development,  progress,  shall  never  end,  for  if  they  should 
cease,  man  would  instantly  lose  his  individuality ;  consequently,  progress  shall 
never  cease,  but  that  spark  in  the  depths  of  the  human  soul  shall  unfold  and  de- 
velop, through  an  interior  process,  until  it  brings  us  forth  to  pure  and  everlast- 
ing life. 

Then  look  within  the  spirits  of  your  children  at  home.  Look  within  the  infant 
minds  that  develop  on  earth.  Watch  the  influences  that  are  thrown  around 
them.  Can  it  be  that  you  will  gaze  upon  them  and  say,  God  has  doomed  so  many 
to  hell  and  chosen  so  many  for  heaven?  Reasonable,  is  it  not,  that  God  should 
have  formed  so  many  human  souls,  so  many  portions  of  Himself,  to  be  punished 
everlastingly  ?  Is  this  the  destiny  of  Mind  ?  No  !  Unfolding  through  an  inte- 
rior process,  developing  through  a  beautiful  law  of  progress,  the  soul  shall  yet 
stand  upon  the  mountain  summits  of  truth,  and  gaze  upon  the  theories  that  exist 
around. 

God  said,  years  ago,  when  this  earth  was  said  to  have  been  made,  "  Let  there  be 
light !  and  there  was  light."  And  to-day  that  majestic  voice  rolls  through  the 
universe  —  "Let  there  be  light!"  and  there  is  light.  Where  do  you  suppose, 
my  friends,  this  light  is  going  to  fall  ?  Not  alone  upon  the  Infidel  and  Universal- 
ist,  but  it  falls  behind  the  pulpit.  Friends  of  truth,  gaze  upon  these  beings,  who 
are  hid  by  the  solemn  robes  of  the  sanctuary,  who  stand  in  the  shadow,  and  pro- 
fess to  be  pure  and  holy,  saying  to  their  brother-man,  "  Stand  aside ;  I  am  holier 
than  thou."  The  light  shall  shine  upon  them,  and  there  shall  be  no  shadow :  for 
man's  destiny  is  not  to  dwell  for  ever  in  this  shadow.  He  is  to  be  unfolded,  and  to 
bring  forward,  from  the  depths  of  his  nature,  from  the  deep  springs  of  everlasting 
life,  the  crystal  waves  of  truth  eternal.  Cast  a  pebble  upon  the  lakelet's  bosom, 
and  circle  after  circle  will  go  round  until  the  whole  is  one  mass  of  circles.  Is  the 
pebble  lost  for  ever  ?  You  cannot  see  it,  perhaps,  but  yet,  if  you  were  to  go  below 
the  blue  waves,  there  would  be  found  the  pebble.  So,  in  the  blue  waters  of  the 
lake  of  mentality  falls  the  pebble  of  truth  from  the  omnipotent  hand  of  Jehovah. 
It  cannot  be  that  it  is  lost  eternally.  No ;  go  below  the  blue  waves,  and  you  will 
find  it  resting  upon  "  the  sands  of  time."  Principles  are  never  lost.  They  may 
have  been  agitated,  —  for  agitation  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom,  —  but  the  pebble 
is  not  lost ;  It  rests  upon  "  the  sands  of  time."  Mind !  thy  destiny  is  ever  onward, 
grasping  from  the  hand  of  an  omnipotent  Deity  the  beautiful  flowers  of  everlast- 
mg  life.  Let  us,  with  the  hand  of  reason,  clasp  the  silvery  lilies  that  grow  by  the 
heavenly  founts,  bind  them  into  an  everlasting  wreath,  and  twine  it  around  the 
brow  of  Truth,  and  it  shall  exist  eternally. 

In  the  unfolding  of  mind,  we  find  many  things  that  it  is  good  for  us  to  investigate 
and  demonstrate,  if  we  would  learn  truth,  everlasting  truth,  from  the  souls  of  men. 
Then  let  us  learn  from  truth,  having  reason  for  our  only  monitor.  If  we  reason 
through  the  teachings  of  another,  it  does  not  do  us  the  good  that  the  unfoldment 
of  our  own  thoughts  would.  Never,  friends,  lose  your  own  individuality.  Never 
let  that  go,  for  if  you  lose  your  spiritual  individuality,  every  thing  on  earth  is  lost. 

Friends,  have  you  ever  watched  the  building  of  some  mighty  ship  upon  the  sea- 
shore ?  Go  forth  and  look  upon  the  timbers,  as  they  are  bolted  and  riveted  together, 
A  person  not  knowing  the  process  by  which  a  ship  is  constructed,  gazing  upon 
these  timbers,  might  say,  "  What  good  will  it  ever  do  ?  It  is  nothing  but  an  ab- 
straction." But  wait  a  few  days,  and  then  see  the  men  as  they  gather  together 
and  launch  that  ship  upon  the  mighty  waves.  The  ship  of  Spiritualism  has  stood 
upon  the  bank,  and  men  have  gazed  upon  it  and  said,  "  Of  what  use  is  it?  It  is 
only  an  abstraction."    Wait  a  little  time,  and  gaze  upon  it  again  and  again,  and 


APPENDIX.  181 

by  and  by,  men  shall  gather  together  and  launch  it  forth  upon  the  dashing  waves 
of  time.  Its  destined  harbor  is  the  port  of  Eternity,  and  it  is  freighted  with  the 
flowers  of  truth  from  the  spirit-world.  Then  wait  a  little  while  before  you  decide 
that  Spiritualism  does  no  good.  Wait  until  you  see  its  white  sails  fill,  and  as  it 
floats  away  over  the  bounding  waves,  then  form  your  opinion. 

Man  is  destined ;  —  yes,  destined,  for  God  knows  all  things ;  and  if  that  Infinite 
Spirit  knows  all  things,  certainly  we  are  destined.  Then  let  us  go  through  these 
fields  of  Infinity.  Remember  we  are  finite  men,  consequently  cannot  examine  the 
Infinite.  Looking  around,  we  may  see  we  are  free  to  act  for  ourselves.  There 
are  truths  continually  unfolding  in  the  book  of  Nature.  Nature  is  the  best  Bible 
we  have  ever  found.  In  Nature,  we  find  demonstrated  the  truth  of  your  Bible 
to-day.  Yes,  the  Bible  is  the  prelude,  while  the  voice  of  Nature  is  the  grand  con- 
summation. Mind !  look  forth  over  Nature's  field !  Be  free !  Read  from  each 
truth  that  exists  around  you,  gather  each  flower  that  exists,  and  twine  it  into  a 
beautiful  wreath  around  your  spirit's  brow ! 

In  order  to  be  happy,  you  must  have  a  principle  upon  which  to  rest.  You  must 
have  a  standard,  place  it  upon  the  mountam-top,  and  strive  to  reach  it.  Grasp  for 
ever  after  the  sunlight :  reach  forward  for  the  standard  you  have  placed  above  you. 
When  you  seek  a  religion,  seek  it  not  in  its  external  form,  but  let  it  be  from  the 
interior,  for  from  the  interior  the  external  proceeds.  Remember  this  ;  when  you 
seek  religion,  let  it  be  the  "  pure  and  undefiled  religion  "  of  the  spirit.  Worship 
God,  "  who  is  a  spirit,  in  spirit  and  in  truth,"  and  in  this  worship  shall  you  find 
happiness.  The  frail  bark  of  Mind  is  setting  forth  upon  the  wide  sea  of  eternity ; 
the  dashing  waves  are  bearing  you  to  the  eternal  world ;  far  away  in  the  dim  dis- 
tance are  voices  of  men  in  the  shadow,  calling  you  back  to  the  old  creeds  of  dark- 
ness behind.  Listen  not  to  their  cries,  for  far  away  in  the  worlds  of  light,  a  voice 
is  calling  that  will  lead  you  to  happiness  eternal. 

It  is  true,  when  we  look  around  us,  we  see  that  we  must  first  learn  how  to  live 
in  this  world.  The  great  mistake  of  mankind  has  been  in  trying  to  learn  how  to 
die.  We  have  heard  children  in  the  public  schools,  when  they  have  been  asked 
what  their  great  object  should  be  in  life,  answer,  "  To  learn  how  to  die."  Friends, 
have  you  got  to  learn  how  to  die  ?  No  ;  learn  how  to  live.  This  is  the  standard, 
and  not  how  to  die.  There  is  no  death.  There  may  be  a  parting  of  the  spirit 
and  the  form,  but  there  is  life  in  this  form,  even  after  the  spirit  has  left  it.  This 
form,  placed  within  the  sepulchre,  crumbles  back  to  its  native  dust,  and  each  crea- 
tion existing  below  it  draws  off  to  itself  part  of  the  human  form,  while  the  soul, 
everlasting,  immortal,  learns,  in  the  spirit  world,  how  to  live  there  as  it  learned 
here  how  to  live. 

In  reading  the  Bible,  we  meet  with  a  certain  parable  which  tells  us  of  the 
servants  who  had  certain  talents  confided  to  them  by  their  master.  One  says,  "  My 
master  is  an  austere  man,  that  takest  up  that  he  layeth  not  down,  and  reapeth 
that  he  did  not  sow,"  and  accordingly  he  took  his  talent  and  hid  it  in  the  ground ; 
but  the  others  worked  out  the  beautiful  mission  they  had  to  perform.  Look  on 
earth,  and  see  the  consummation  of  that  parable.  See  men  taking  this  beautiful 
reason  and  rolling  it  in  a  napkin,  and  laying  it  in  the  sepulchre  of  antiquity,  say- 
ing, "  God  is  an  austere  God,  that  taketh  up  that  he  layeth  not  down,  and  reap- 
eth that  he  did  not  sow."  But  the  time  shall  come  when  he  shall  say,  "  You  too, 
depart  from  me  into  darkness."  But  you  cannot  depart  from  the  spirit,  though 
you  may  from  the  principles  that  surround  you. 

Our  mission  is  not  to  tear  away  your  foundation.  We  take  the  truth  for  our 
foundation :  upon  it  we  build  the  beautiful  structure  of  true  development  in  the 
other  world.  Remember  that,  and  that  we  take  the  truth  and  blend  it  in  one 
harmonious  action,  like  the  blending  of  the  waves  of  the  ocean, — deep,  sublime,  ma- 
jestic in  their  mighty  sway,  chanting  for  ever  the  anthems  of  Mind,  unfolding  its 
deepest  principles  on  this  earth  around  us,  lit  by  the  smiles  of  our  heavenly 
Father. 

There  are  various  qualities  of  mind,  too  diversified  for  us  to  dwell  upon  now,  as 
our  time  and  space  are  brief.  But  we  must  tell  you,  before  we  depart,  what  an 
infidel  is.  To  some,  the  idea  of  an  infidel  is  a  horrid  thought.  What  is  an  infi- 
del ?    Too  often  has  the  question  been  sent  forth,  "  Who  can  you  spiritualists 


182  APPENDIX. 

count,  but  Infidels  and  Universalists  ?  "  Infidels  and  Universalists !  which  is 
worse,  the  man  who  believes  God  a  wrathful  being,  punishing  two-thirds  of  his 
creatures  for  ever  and  for  ever,  or  he  who  believes  him  the  unchangeable  spirit 
that  Nature  teaches  him  to  be  ?  Infidels  have  been  rejected  by  the  churches ; 
ministers  have  stood  forth  and  tried  to  convince  them  of  what  they  term  the 
truth.  But  they  have  retained  their  infidelity,  and  resisted  all  their  efforts,  be- 
cause they  could  not  show  any  reason  to  them.  They  have  been  asked,  "  Why 
do  you  not  believe  ?  "  The  reply  has  been,  "  Belief  is  a  matter  of  proof.  Until 
we  have  evidence  clear  and  plain,  we  never  can  believe."  Spiritualism,  then,  has 
done  one  work  that  the  churches  could  not  do  —  it  has  brought  in  those  who  are 
termed  Infidels  and  Universalists. 

Man's  destiny  is  to  live  everlastingly,  throughout  the  labyrinths  of  the  other 
world.  The  truth  that  lies  around  you  to-day,  let  that  be  manifested  in  your 
souls.  The  truth  of  to-day  is  the  shadow  of  that  which  shall  be  demonstrated  here- 
after. Then  fear  not,  O  mortal !  Fear  not,  O  mind !  Man's  rest  consists  not  in 
quitting  action  for  ever ;  it  is  fitting  itself  for  its  sphere ;  and  that  is  man's  im- 
mortal destiny.  With  the  blessing  of  the  spirits,  which  shall  rest  upon  each  man, 
may  you  go  onward,  working  out  this  destiny  for  ever ! 

ADDBESS  OF  MISS  A.  W.  SPRAGUE. 

Freedom  of  thought  —  freedom  of  speech  —  and  freedom  of  action,  are  sentences 
that  pass  from  mouth  to  mouth,  and  from  lip  to  lip,  and  are  echoed  from  every 
hill  and  mountain  and  valley,  and  sometimes  echoed  even  in  the  depths  of  the  hu- 
man soul.  Yet,  echoed  as  they  are  echoed,  spoken  as  they  are  spoken,  there  is 
an  emptiness  in  the  very  sound.  The  spirit  of  liberty,  the  principle  of  freedom, 
lives  not  in  the  human  soul,  save  in  a  dim,  twilight  state.  It  is  of  God,  and 
must  live  in  the  human  soul,  but  yet  his  nature  is  not  as  noble,  as  great,  as  beau- 
tiful, as  truthful,  as  it  may  be,  as  it  will  be,  as  it  must  be,  when  Humanity  stands 
forth  in  its  native  dignity  and  says,  "  I  will  be  free  !  "  The  fiat  of  the  nation  may 
go  forth,  saving,  "  Thou  art  free ;  "  and  if  it  comes  only  from  the  outer,  the 
shackles  are  binding  the  human  soul  still.  But  if  the  human  soul  sends  out  its 
fiat,  if  it  comes  out  nobly  from  its  very  depths,  and  speaks  the  word  Freedom,  it 
echoes  from  land  to  land,  and  from  sea  to  sea,  and  freedom  finds  her  true  and 
rightful  place  in  the  human  soul. 

Freedom  is  the  subject  that  we  would  present  to  you  at  this  time.  Even  as  we 
gaze  from  our  higher  home,  even  as  we  cast  aside  our  heavenly  robes,  that  we 
may  give  you  heavenly  truths,  do  we  strive  to  infuse  into  your  souls  the 
principles  that  you  speak  in  words  only.  We  come  unto  you,  O  men,  and  as  you 
are  able  to  receive  us,  as  you  can  understand  that  which  we  speak  unto  you,  do 
we  strive  to  infuse  into  your  souls  a  love  of  that  principle  of  freedom  that  shall 
make  mankind  one  harmonious  brotherhood.  Man,  in  order  to  be  free,  must  un- 
derstand the  principles  of  life,  and  the  relation  he  bears  to  things  around  him. 
You  cannot  be  free  when  the  elements  have  dominion  over  you.  There  is  a  kind 
of  bondage  that  is  true  freedom.  When  a  superior  mah,  with  great  and  glorious 
truths,  has  you  in  bondage,  and  with  the  mighty  spell  of  genius  and  intellect 
chains  your  very  soul,  then  are  you  noblest  and  most  free.  Though  you  are 
spell-bound,  yet  it  has  freed  you ;  it  has  burst  the  shackles  of  ignorance,  and  sent 
your  mind  soaring  far  away  through  the  vast  realms  of  thought,  to  gather  in  the 
great  and  glorious  ideas  of  infinite  truth.  We  say  you  must  be  ready  to  receive 
truth,  ready  to  stand  and  listen,  ready  to  feel  it  in  the  depths  of  your  soul,  and 
ready  to  practise  it,  also,  or  you  are  not  free. 

Now  we  come  unto  you,  saying.  What  is  this  principle,  and  how  should  it  act 
upon  the  present  occasion?  Mind  has  gathered  to  mind,  like  atoms  floating 
through  space.  Mind  has  come  forth,  and  the  body  has  obeyed  its  will,  and  you 
are  gathered  into  conclave  together.  And  for  what  purpose  ?  Have  you  not 
gathered  to  learn  what  is  right  and  true  in  every  department  of  life,  and  lis- 
ten unto  every  word  of  wisdom  that  may  come  from  the  lips  of  any  man,  and  to 
every  voice  that  may  speak,  in  its  own  way,  to  your  interior,  according  to  its  de- 
velopment and  your  own  ?    If  you  have  not  gathered  for  this  purpose,  you  can- 


APPENDIX.  183 

not  receive  truth  nobly.  You  must  be  ready  to  receive  truth,  no  matter  if  it  lays 
bare  your  soul  before  you ;  else  you  have  not  been  made  fit  for  the  truth,  and  you 
■will  not  find  it.  The  elements  of  discord  will  be  in  your  minds,  and  your  souls 
shall  not  be  baptised  with  the  true  spirit  of  inspiration,  that  ever  descends  upon 
harmonious  minds,  from  the  infinite  fountain  of  light  and  truth. 

Now,  shall  there  be  any  question  whether  you  shall  ask  if  there  be  a  future  life 
or  not  ?  Shall  any  say,  "  It  is  not  well  for  man  to  ask  whether  he  is  immortal 
until  he  shall  do  his  practical  duties  in  the  earth-life  ?  "  Shall  any  say,  "  Let 
the  captive  go  free,  burst  the  gyves  from  the  slaves,  take  poverty  away  from  the 
world,  let  every  one  be  blest  with  enough  and  to  spare,  let  ignorance  be  enlight- 
ened, in  this  world,  before  we  raise  the  question  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul  ?  " 
Do  you  say  that  all  these  things  should  be  attended  to  before  man  asks  himself — 
"  In  what  relation  do  I  stand  before  God  ?  "  If  you  do,  you  might  just  as  well 
go  back  further,  and  say,  "  Man  may  not  inquire  about  God  at  all.  Let  him  do 
right  for  the  sake  of  right,  love  goodness  for  its  own  sake,  never  worship  God 
never  pray  to  God,  never  ask  about  the  hereafter,  but  do  his  work  in  the  present 
life."  If  man  were  sufficiently  unfolded  to  do  this,  how  much  greater  would  he  be 
to  do  it  of  his  own  accord  ?  We  say,  if  man  were  sufficiently  noble,  then  he 
would  say.  Even  if  this  present  life  be  all,  I  will  live  truly,  I  will  deal  nobly 
justly,  with  my  co-workers,  with  those  who  are  my  fellow-laborers  here,  and  I 
will  make  the  paths  of  earth  more  bright,  that  others  may  enjoy  them  after  me. 
We  say,  if  man  was  developed  enough,  if  Manhood  and  Womanhood  stood  up 
in  their  own  dignity,  each  man  and  woman  would  say,  I  have  attributes  of  mind 
and  soul,  and  I  will  use  them  nobly,  even  though  I  enter  the  depths  of  hell ;  and 
though  no  heaven  awaits  me,  and  though  no  God  ever  thunders  on  Sinai  or 
walks  in  the  Garden,  to  tell  me  his  law,  I  will  do  my  duty  nobly,  because  I  see  its 
truth  and  nobleness  in  my  own  spirit.  We  say,  that  when  man  reaches  this 
point,  it  will  not  be  necessary  that  any  shall  speak  of  the  errors  of  a  past  theol- 
ogy, of  slavery,  of  prostitution,  or  of  that  bondage  of  the  human  soul  that  now 
bathes  Humanity  m  blood  and  binds  her  in  chains  —  chains  of  sin  and  vice, 
more  galling  than  any  that  ever  man  placed  upon  the  physical  body. 

But  you  see  humanity  as  it  is,  and  society  as  it  is,  and  if  you  would  reform  it, 
you  m-ust  take  the  best  way.  You  must  not  tell  man  he  is  a  God,  for  he  is  not; 
nor  that  he  is  angel,  for  he  is  not.  He  stands  in  this  probationary  age ;  and 
though  there  are  at  times  bright  and  beautiful  aspirations  in  his  soul,  when  angel 
robes  seem  wrapped  around  him,  and  a  starry  crown  upon  his  brow,  yet  there  are 
other  times  when  the  mark  of  the  fiend  appears  upon  his  countenance,  which 
seems  to  mirror  the  dark  scene  below.  We  say,  you  find  man  just  what  he  is. 
If  he  was  all  bad,  totally  depraved,  it  would  be  of  no  use  to  persevere  in  the  effort 
to  set  him  free  from  the  chains  of  vice  and  sin.  But  much  as  man's  tendencies 
seem  to  be  downward,  much  as  circumstances  seem  to  turn  him  downward,  he  has 
noble  aspirations  in  his  soul.  Though  theymay  seem  to  slumber,  yet  the  time 
•will  come  when  they  shall  burst  into  life,  and  man  stand  forth  a  being  almost 
deified. 

Then,  we  say,  the  principle  of  right,  the  love  of  truth,  is  in  the  soul.  Now,  can 
any  thing  be  done  to  bring  it  out  ?  In  this  lies  the  whole  question.  Not,  can 
any  thing  be  done  to  make  him  right,  but  can  any  thing  be  done  to  appeal  to  the 
highest  and  noblest  that  is  within  him  ?  If  any  thing  can  be  done,  then  it  should 
be  done.  Now,  it  has  been  the  great  question  with  most  men,  imperfect  as  they 
are,  "  Will  it  pay  ?  "  This  seems  to  be  the  great  idea,  and  men  have  been  taught 
to  do  right  in  order  to  escape  suffering  or  receive  a  reward.  Now,  you  go  to  men 
with  a  beautiful  theory,  saying.  We  would  make  you  so  love  the  right  that  you 
shall  do  it  from  inclination,  —  not  as  a  task,  not  as  a  duty.  If  you  say  to  them, 
You  shall  live  for  ever ;  your  life  is  a  great  progressive  life,  and  just  as  you  do 
nobly  here,  so  shall  noble  things  be  in  the  future  ;  by  your  own  actions  you  work 
out  your  own  happiness  or  misery,  —  if  you  can  demonstrate  that  they  have  this 
immortal  life,  it  gives  them  one  incentive  to  action.  Then  they  will  listen  to  the 
aspirations  of  their  own  souls,  and  by  seeing  the  beauty  of  a  higher  life,  they  will 
be  taught  better  how  to  make  all  beautiful  here. 

Now.  we  do  not  come  unto  you  showing  the  beauty  of  the  spirits  of  heaven,  to 


184  APPENDIX. 

make  you  in  love  with  them,  but  we  show  them  as  models.  If  you  see  a  beauti- 
ful life,  are  you  not  led  to  think,  "  Would  that  mine  were  like  it  ?  "  The  soul,  set 
free  from  its  bondage,  hears  the  clanking  of  the  chains  of  the  prisoner  and  of  the 
slave  with  a  harsher  discord  than  ever  before,  and  asks  itself,  "  What  can  I  do  to 
set  the  captive  free  ?  "  And  then  it  sees  the  importance  of  arousing  the  same 
feelings  in  others,  and  says,  "  I  will  awaken  the  beautiful  in  men's  hearts.  I  will 
go  forth,  not  with  fire  and  sword,  and  blood,  and  torture,  the  rack  and  the  inqui- 
sition, but  in  the  spirit  of  love,  and  in  the  mighty  power  of  truth,  and  waken  such 
an  intense  desire  for  the  heavenly  life  in  the  souls  of  men,  that  they  shall  work 
nobly  for  it  in  the  present." 

When  man  thinks  God  is  a  revengeful  and  wrathful  deity,  how  can  he  help  wish- 
ing to  be  revenged  upon  his  enemies  ?  Who  blames  man  that  he  hangs  his  bro- 
ther between  heaven  and  earth,  when  he  has  been  taught  to  believe  that  the  Al- 
mighty God,  infinite  in  power  and  wisdom,  will  in  a  moment  plunge  him  into  a 
burning  pit,  and  save  him  never  ?  Who  blames  man  that  he  lifts  his  hand  against 
his  brother,  and  sends  forth  his  legions  to  battle,  when  he  deems  that  God  has 
done  the  same,  and  punishes  men  with  everlasting  torture,  while  he  only  punishes 
them  for  the  present  time  ?  Now,  we  say,  if  we  can  teach  man  to  love  a  God  of 
wisdom,  and  truth,  and  beauty,  he  will  say,  "  My  brother,  I  forgive  thee  ;  go,  and 
sin  no  more." — "  The  Almighty  God  has  not  condemned  thee,  neither  will  I." 
Never  until  men  have  truer  ideas  of  God,  truer  ideas  of  the  future,  can  this  be 
done.  Never  until  these  ideas  are  recognized,  can  men  join  hands,  and  the  basis 
of  reform  be  laid  upon  a  true  foundation,  —  never !  They  may  reach  their  hands 
forth  and  clasp  each  other  in  a  brotherly  grasp,  but  unless  their  souls  go  out  in  all 
these  great  reforms,  speaking,  not  for  one  particular  idea,  but  for  humanity,  and 
for  all  the  ills  of  humanity,  in  its  every  form,  and  asking  that  light  and  wisdom 
may  break  from  the  Bible  and  Nature,  and  from  those  beautiful  and  higher  forms 
that  have  passed  away,  —  never  until  then  can  men  be  truly  united,  and  come  up 
to  the  help  of  humamty  against  the  mightiness  of  that  imperfection  that  lies  deep 
in  human  nature. 

The  true  reformer  lays  his  hand  upon  the  human  soul.  It  is  beautiful  to  go  to 
the  captive's  dungeon,  inspired  by  love,  and  he  who  does  it,  shall  receive  peace 
and  happiness  into  his  soul ;  but  he  who  goes  into  the  soul  that  has  known  sin, 
and,  speaking  loving  words,  wakes  it  to  truth  and  beauty,  and  through  the  truths 
of  the  life  beyond,  learns  it  the  truth  of  the  present,  he  shall  receive  a  yet  greater 
blessing.     [An  improvised  Poem  concluded  the  Address.] 


RESOLUTIONS. 


The  following  Resolutions  were  presented  to  the  Business  Committee,  by  the 
persons  whose  names  are  prefixed  to  them,  and  did  not  come  before  the  Con- 
vention : — 

By  S.  B.  Brittan  : 

Whereas,  The  development  of  the  Spiritual  Idea  and  the  progress  of  the  great 
Reformation  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  have  done  much  to  reveal  the  inherent 
necessities  and  capabilities  of  human  nature,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  expose 
the  numerous  defects  in  the  existing  modes  of  instruction  and  the  whole  system 
of  scholastic  training ;  and,  whereas,  the  excessive  exercise  of  certain  faculties 
and  their  appropriate  organs,  to  the  neglect  and  suppression  of  others  e{5[ually 
essential  to  the  full  and  harmonic  development  of  a  perfect  Manhood,  is  the 
prolific  source  of  physical  debility,  mental  imbecility  and  social  inharmony; 
therefore, 

Besolved,  That  we  recognize  the  necessity  for  a  more  simple,  natural  and  practi- 
•cal  system  of  education,  which  shall  invest  every  department  of  useful  knowl- 
-edge  with  irresistible  attractions,  while  it  secures  the  free  normal  exercise  and 
the  harmonious  development  of  all  the  human  faculties  and  affections  ;  and  that 
•every  intelligent  and  well-directed  effort  to  realize  the  great  demand  of  the  time 


APPENDIX.  185 

in  this  respect,  deserves  the  serious  consideration  and  the  cordial  support  of  every 
rational  Spiritualist  and  true  Reformer. 

Resolved,  That  Dr.  Haskell,  of  Rockford,  111.,  who  has  already  displayed  his 
self-sacrificing  generosity  by  appropriating  a  large  share  of  his  fortune  to  this 
important  object,  has  furnished  a  conspicuous  and  noble  example,  which  other 
Spiritualists  of  ample  means  may  follow  with  incalculable  advantage  to 
Humanity. 

Resolved,  That  we  regard  with  especial  favor  the  praisworthy  efforts  of  Dr. 
O.  H.  Wellington,  of  Jamestown,  N.  Y.,  to  establish  such  a  Progressive  School 
as  the  increased  light  of  the  Present  and  the  possibilities  of  the  Future  obviously 
suggest  and  demand  ;  and  that,  in  the  judgment  of  this  Convention,  his  present 
enterprise  deserves  prompt  encouragement  and  a  generous  patronage  from  all  who 
are  interested  in  the  early  discipline  and  the  complete  education  of  the  rising 
generation. 

By  J.  P.  Mendum: 

Resolved,  That  reformers  can  never  have  a  fair  field  and  open  fight  with  error, 
so  long  as  they  countenance  the  custom  of  usury,  either  in  the  form  of  rent  or  by 
taking  interest  on  money. 

Resolved,  That  God  helps  those  who  help  themselves,  and  as  he  was  never 
known  to  help  any  one  who  did  not  possess  that  qualification,  therefore,  we  re- 
commend that  all  reformers  learn  the  importance  of  self-reliance. 

Resolved,  That  a  disbelief  in  immortality  does  not  degrade  the  man  or  woman 
holding  such  disbelief — neither  is  a  belief  in  the  doctrines  of  inspiration  a  guar- 
antee of  superiority  of  intellect  or  character. 

Resolved,  That  the  belief  in  a  supreme,  intelligent,  over-ruling  Providence,  or 
God,  is  a  detriment  to  the  progress  of  all  reforms ;  its  tendency  always  has  been 
to  destroy  the  confidence  of  the  human  race  in  its  own  powers,  and  instead  of  re- 
lying upon  itself  for  support  and  success,  to  look  to  God  for  assistance,  thereby 
causing  many  good  projects  to  utterly  fail. 

By  F.  W.  Evans  : 

Resolved,  That  the  institutions  of  private  property,  of  war,  of  slavery,  of  riches 
and  poverty,  and  of  marriage  (physical  reproduction,)  are  not  elements  of  the 
perfected  Christian  system. 

Resolved,  That  Christ  has  made  not  only  his  first  appearance  to  the  male,  but 
also  his  second  appearance  to  the  female  part  of  the  human  race. 

By  Mrs.  F.  D.  Gage: 

Resolved,  That  the  words  male  and  white  should  be  stricken  from  our  statute 
books,  and  laws  should  be  made  to  have  an  equal  bearing  upon  every  human 
being. 


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